Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) Short Interest Up 5.8% in December

Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,730,000 shares, an increase of 5.8% from the November 30th total of 2,580,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 483,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.7 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Avista

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Algert Global LLC raised its position in shares of Avista by 202.2% in the third quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 57,617 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,233,000 after purchasing an additional 38,550 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Avista by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 420,527 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $16,295,000 after buying an additional 34,829 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Avista by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,828,230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $70,857,000 after acquiring an additional 27,328 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Avista during the second quarter worth approximately $5,638,000. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its position in shares of Avista by 0.4% in the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 3,551,460 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $122,916,000 after purchasing an additional 13,445 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

Avista Stock Performance

Shares of AVA stock opened at $36.63 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $37.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $37.41. Avista has a one year low of $31.91 and a one year high of $39.99. The stock has a market cap of $2.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.59, a P/E/G ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.48.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.13 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $383.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $389.29 million. Avista had a return on equity of 7.83% and a net margin of 10.24%. Avista’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.19 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Avista will post 2.3 EPS for the current year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th were paid a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 26th. Avista’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 75.70%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on AVA shares. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Avista in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $40.00 price target for the company. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Avista in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $37.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Avista currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $36.75.

Avista Company Profile

Avista Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an electric and natural gas utility company. It operates in two segments, Avista Utilities and AEL&P. The Avista Utilities segment provides electric distribution and transmission, and natural gas distribution services in parts of eastern Washington and northern Idaho; and natural gas distribution services in parts of northeastern and southwestern Oregon, as well as generates electricity in Washington, Idaho, Oregon, and Montana.