Avista (NYSE:AVA) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume - Still a Buy?

Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA - Get Free Report) saw an uptick in trading volume on Friday . 713,739 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 42% from the previous session's volume of 502,632 shares.The stock last traded at $40.39 and had previously closed at $40.04.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group dropped 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 Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.85, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.46. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $38.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.79.

Avista (NYSE:AVA - Get Free Report) last released 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). Avista had a return on equity of 7.83% and a net margin of 10.24%. The company had revenue of $517.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $487.48 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Avista Co. will post 2.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avista Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were issued a $0.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 26th. This is a boost from Avista's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.63%. Avista's payout ratio is 86.34%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 2,298 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.75, for a total transaction of $89,047.50. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 12,539 shares in the company, valued at $485,886.25. This represents a 15.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Avista

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AVA. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Avista by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,260,857 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $375,855,000 after buying an additional 327,535 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Avista by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,967,172 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $108,687,000 after purchasing an additional 53,222 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Avista by 1.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,828,230 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $70,857,000 after purchasing an additional 27,328 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Avista by 27.2% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,283,532 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $47,016,000 after purchasing an additional 274,270 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Avista by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,253,280 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $45,908,000 after buying an additional 24,981 shares during the period. 85.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.