Avista (NYSE:AVA) Hits New 12-Month High - Still a Buy?

Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA - Get Free Report)'s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $40.17 and last traded at $39.89, with a volume of 184620 shares. The stock had previously closed at $38.16.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Avista from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th.

Avista Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $3.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $36.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.60.

Avista (NYSE:AVA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.86 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $517.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $487.48 million. Avista had a return on equity of 7.83% and a net margin of 10.24%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Avista Co. will post 2.3 EPS for the current year.

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Avista Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.49 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.91%. This is an increase from Avista's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Avista's dividend payout ratio is 78.09%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Avista

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Avista by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 38,300 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,403,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Avista by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 22,842 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $837,000 after acquiring an additional 328 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Avista by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 7,814 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $286,000 after acquiring an additional 351 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Avista by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 137,767 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $5,046,000 after acquiring an additional 359 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Avista by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 25,772 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $944,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.24% of the company's stock.

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.