Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) Short Interest Up 11.0% in November

Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) was the target of a large growth in short interest in November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,530,000 shares, a growth of 11.0% from the October 31st total of 2,280,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 476,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.3 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Bank of America began coverage on shares of Avista in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $37.00 price target on the stock.

Avista Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of Avista stock traded down $0.63 during trading on Monday, hitting $38.06. The stock had a trading volume of 527,180 shares, compared to its average volume of 515,524. The stock has a market cap of $3.01 billion, a PE ratio of 15.41, a PEG ratio of 4.24 and a beta of 0.47. Avista has a 12 month low of $31.91 and a 12 month high of $39.99. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $38.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.34. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $383.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 in the prior year, the company posted $0.19 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Avista will post 2.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.99%. Avista’s payout ratio is currently 75.70%.

Institutional Trading of Avista

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. purchased a new position in Avista during the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Avista in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Avista during the 2nd quarter worth $40,000. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in shares of Avista by 46.9% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,098 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $81,000 after purchasing an additional 670 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its position in Avista by 256.6% during the second quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 2,714 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $94,000 after purchasing an additional 1,953 shares in the last quarter. 85.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Avista

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.