41,297 Shares in Avista Corporation $AVA Acquired by Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund

Posted by Francis Steltz on Aug 2nd, 2026

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new stake in shares of Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA – Free Report) during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 41,297 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,658,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AVA. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Avista by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,933,633 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $421,382,000 after acquiring an additional 98,220 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Avista by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,305,266 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $204,465,000 after acquiring an additional 45,696 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Avista by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,985,944 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $76,550,000 after purchasing an additional 7,793 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its position in Avista by 16.6% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,807,397 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $69,657,000 after purchasing an additional 257,834 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Avista by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,516,163 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $60,860,000 after purchasing an additional 4,958 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on AVA shares. Mizuho raised their price target 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. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Avista from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $39.00 price objective on shares of Avista in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Avista from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Avista from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $40.00.

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on Avista

Avista Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of NYSE:AVA opened at $40.50 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $41.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.98. 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 12-month low of $35.50 and a 12-month high of $43.50. The firm has a market cap of $3.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.13, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.25.

Avista (NYSE:AVA – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $570.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $643.55 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.98 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Avista has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.520-2.720 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Avista Corporation will post 2.58 EPS for the current year.

Avista Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 19th were issued a $0.4925 dividend. This represents a $1.97 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 19th. Avista’s payout ratio is presently 78.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Wayne O. Manuel sold 1,593 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 10,521 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $431,150.58. This represents a 13.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.78% of the company’s stock.

About Avista

(Free Report)

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.