Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Sells 337 Shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC decreased its position in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 4.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,533 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 337 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Avista were worth $239,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AVA. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in Avista by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 38,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,403,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its stake in Avista by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 22,842 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $837,000 after buying an additional 328 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in Avista by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 7,814 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $286,000 after buying an additional 351 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Avista by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 137,767 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,046,000 after buying an additional 359 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SPC Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Avista by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. SPC Financial Inc. now owns 11,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $410,000 after buying an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 1,024 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 11,515 shares in the company, valued at approximately $435,497.30. The trade was a 8.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.96% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Avista Stock Performance

Shares of AVA opened at $36.93 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.75. Avista Co. has a twelve month low of $33.45 and a twelve month high of $43.09. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $39.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.46. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.07). Avista had a net margin of 10.24% and a return on equity of 7.83%. The company had revenue of $603.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $636.30 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.91 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Avista Co. will post 2.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

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

Avista 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.