Avista (NYSE:AVA) Posts Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.09 EPS

Avista (NYSE:AVA) released its earnings results on Wednesday. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by ($0.09), Briefing.com reports. Avista had a return on equity of 7.07% and a net margin of 9.77%. The firm had revenue of $594.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $469.34 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.73 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 29.3% on a year-over-year basis. Avista updated its FY24 guidance to $2.36-2.56 EPS and its FY 2024 guidance to 2.360-2.560 EPS.

Avista Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AVA traded down $0.09 during trading on Thursday, reaching $36.55. 82,534 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 567,806. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $34.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $34.31. The firm has a market cap of $2.86 billion, a PE ratio of 16.59 and a beta of 0.48. Avista has a 12 month low of $30.53 and a 12 month high of $44.76. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03.

Avista Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were given a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.20%. This is a boost from Avista’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. Avista’s payout ratio is 85.20%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AVA. StockNews.com upgraded Avista from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 24th. Guggenheim raised shares of Avista from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $34.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Avista has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $33.50.

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.