Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) Short Interest Update

Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,770,000 shares, a drop of 5.8% from the January 15th total of 2,940,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 514,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.4 days.

Avista Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE:AVA traded up $0.42 on Friday, reaching $37.91. The company's stock had a trading volume of 493,808 shares, compared to its average volume of 444,891. Avista has a 12-month low of $32.70 and a 12-month high of $39.99. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $36.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.55. The firm has a market cap of $3.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05.

Avista Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be issued a $0.49 dividend. This is a positive change from Avista's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 26th. Avista's payout ratio is 75.70%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AVA. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Avista in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,139,000. Demars Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Avista in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $21,047,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Avista by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,260,857 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $375,855,000 after purchasing an additional 327,535 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Avista by 27.2% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,283,532 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $47,016,000 after buying an additional 274,270 shares during the period. Finally, Foundry Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Avista in the third quarter valued at $10,076,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.24% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Avista from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th.

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.