Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.49

Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 12th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be paid a dividend of 0.49 per share by the utilities provider on Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 26th. This is a positive change from Avista’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48.

Avista has raised its dividend payment by an average of 4.0% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 23 consecutive years. Avista has a dividend payout ratio of 72.1% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Avista to earn $2.53 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.96 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 77.5%.

Avista Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of Avista stock opened at $37.91 on Monday. Avista has a twelve month low of $32.70 and a twelve month high of $39.99. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $36.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.00 billion, a PE ratio of 15.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.49.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Avista from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th.

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.