Avista Corporation $AVA Stock Position Lifted by Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in shares of Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA) by 37,219.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 541,136 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 539,686 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in Avista were worth $20,855,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVA. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in Avista by 359.4% in the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,282,508 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,492,000 after acquiring an additional 1,003,362 shares during the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd lifted its stake in Avista by 1,723.9% in the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 442,427 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $16,728,000 after acquiring an additional 418,170 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Avista by 8.3% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,191,896 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $197,032,000 after acquiring an additional 398,446 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in Avista by 216.5% in the third quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 477,238 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $18,044,000 after acquiring an additional 326,469 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invenomic Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Avista in the third quarter valued at approximately $7,014,000. 85.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Wayne O. Manuel sold 1,593 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.98, for a total transaction of $65,281.14. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 10,521 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $431,150.58. The trade was a 13.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Bryan Alden Cox sold 1,768 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.18, for a total transaction of $71,038.24. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 8,401 shares in the company, valued at $337,552.18. This trade represents a 17.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 3,916 shares of company stock worth $158,408 in the last ninety days. 0.78% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AVA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Avista from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Zacks Research cut shares of Avista from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Avista from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Avista from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $39.00 price objective on shares of Avista in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $40.00.

Avista Price Performance

Shares of Avista stock opened at $40.90 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. Avista Corporation has a 1-year low of $35.50 and a 1-year high of $43.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.30, a PEG ratio of 3.85 and a beta of 0.24.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by $0.06. Avista had a net margin of 10.75% and a return on equity of 7.65%. The business had revenue of $570.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $643.55 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.98 earnings per share. Avista’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. Avista has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.520-2.720 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Avista Corporation will post 2.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Avista Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 19th will be given a dividend of $0.4925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 19th. This represents a $1.97 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.8%. Avista’s payout ratio is 78.49%.

Avista Profile

Avista Corporation operates as an integrated energy company providing electric and natural gas delivery services to residential, commercial and industrial customers in the Pacific Northwest. Through its regulated utility operations, the company maintains and upgrades an extensive transmission and distribution network, delivering reliable energy to approximately 400,000 electric customers and 324,000 natural gas customers across Washington, Oregon and Idaho. In addition to its core utility business, Avista invests in owned generation assets, including hydroelectric, natural gas–fired, coal and wind facilities, to support system reliability and long-term supply planning.

Founded in 1889 as the Spokane and Inland Empire Water Power Company, the business adopted the Avista name in 1999 to reflect its growing energy portfolio and strategic focus on innovation.