Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA) Shares Sold by Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc.

Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. cut its stake in Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA) by 26.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,458 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,971 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Avista were worth $354,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AVA. Sowell Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Avista during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $331,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Avista by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,253,280 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $45,908,000 after acquiring an additional 24,981 shares during the period. Wesbanco Bank Inc. lifted its stake in Avista by 34.7% during the 1st quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 40,400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,692,000 after acquiring an additional 10,400 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Avista by 44.0% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 480,744 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $17,610,000 after acquiring an additional 147,007 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 327,535 shares during the period. 85.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 value of $38,727.68. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 11,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $435,497.30. The trade was a 8.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.96% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Avista Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AVA opened at $37.66 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. Avista Corporation has a 12 month low of $33.45 and a 12 month high of $43.09. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.47. The stock has a market cap of $3.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.09, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.41.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last posted its earnings results 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). The firm had revenue of $603.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $636.30 million. Avista had a net margin of 9.63% and a return on equity of 7.28%. Avista’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.91 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Avista Corporation will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 13th were issued a $0.49 dividend. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.20%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 13th. Avista’s payout ratio is presently 83.76%.

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.