Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Acquires 728,543 Shares of Avista Corporation $AVA

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. grew its holdings in Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA) by 52.7% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 2,110,711 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 728,543 shares during the quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc.’s holdings in Avista were worth $80,101,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Avista in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in Avista by 54.8% in the second quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 884 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 313 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Avista during the second quarter worth $37,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Avista during the first quarter worth $43,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Avista by 48.5% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,360 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 444 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Avista from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Mizuho set a $42.00 price target on Avista in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Avista to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Avista in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $40.33.

Avista Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AVA opened at $38.59 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The business has a 50-day moving average of $39.35 and a 200-day moving average of $38.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.42, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.30. Avista Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $34.80 and a fifty-two week high of $43.09.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.09. Avista had a return on equity of 7.18% and a net margin of 9.62%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.23 EPS. Avista has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.520-2.720 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Avista Corporation will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, November 24th will be paid a $0.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 24th. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.1%. Avista’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 83.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Avista

In other news, SVP Bryan Alden Cox bought 3,671 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 16th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $35.55 per share, for a total transaction of $130,504.05. Following the completion of the acquisition, the senior vice president owned 9,989 shares in the company, valued at approximately $355,108.95. This represents a 58.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Avista 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.