Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Purchases 34,931 Shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 112.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 66,035 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 34,931 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.08% of Avista worth $2,765,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Avista during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,139,000. Demars Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Avista in the 4th quarter valued at $21,047,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Avista by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,260,857 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $375,855,000 after purchasing an additional 327,535 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Avista by 27.2% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,283,532 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $47,016,000 after purchasing an additional 274,270 shares during the period. Finally, RWC Asset Management LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Avista by 70.4% in the 4th quarter. RWC Asset Management LLP now owns 538,517 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $19,726,000 after buying an additional 222,500 shares during the last quarter. 85.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Avista Price Performance

AVA opened at $36.93 on Tuesday. Avista Co. has a fifty-two week low of $33.45 and a fifty-two week high of $43.09. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $39.59 and a 200 day moving average of $38.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.75. The firm has a market cap of $2.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.71, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.41.

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

Avista Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th were issued a dividend of $0.49 per share. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.31%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 13th. Avista’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 83.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 1,024 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.82, for a total transaction of $38,727.68. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 11,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $435,497.30. This represents a 8.17% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.96% of the stock is owned by 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.