Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) Shares Sold by Bank of America Corp DE

Bank of America Corp DE reduced its holdings in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 6.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 317,035 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 21,028 shares during the quarter. Bank of America Corp DE owned about 0.40% of Avista worth $11,613,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AVA. Headlands Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Avista by 2,474.1% in the 4th quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 695 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 668 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Avista by 117.8% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 858 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 464 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in shares of Avista by 296.7% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 715 shares during the period. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Avista by 45.3% in the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,462 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 456 shares during the period. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Avista by 183.8% in the 4th quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,856 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $68,000 after buying an additional 1,202 shares during the period. 85.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Avista Stock Performance

NYSE AVA opened at $38.15 on Friday. Avista Co. has a 1-year low of $33.45 and a 1-year high of $43.09. The company has a market capitalization of $3.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.20, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $40.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.48.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.07). Avista had a net margin of 10.24% and a return on equity of 7.83%. The firm had revenue of $603.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $636.30 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.91 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Avista Co. will post 2.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avista Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be paid a $0.49 dividend. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 13th. Avista’s payout ratio is currently 83.76%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Avista news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 2,298 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.75, for a total transaction of $89,047.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 12,539 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $485,886.25. This trade represents a 15.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.