GAMMA Investing LLC Has $38,000 Stock Position in Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA)

GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA) by 252.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 916 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 656 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Avista were worth $38,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Avista by 29.3% during the 1st quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 70,747 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,962,000 after acquiring an additional 16,042 shares in the last quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. grew 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 in the last quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. purchased a new position in Avista during the 1st quarter valued at about $246,000. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its stake in Avista by 13.0% during the 1st quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 18,307 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $767,000 after acquiring an additional 2,108 shares in the last quarter. Finally, A. D. Beadell Investment Counsel Inc. grew its stake in Avista by 10.7% during the 1st quarter. A. D. Beadell Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 40,515 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,696,000 after acquiring an additional 3,910 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Avista

In related news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 1,024 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 12th. The stock was 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 owned 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 filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Avista Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE:AVA opened at $38.29 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.64. Avista Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $34.72 and a fifty-two week high of $43.09. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $38.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.57. The stock has a market cap of $3.08 billion, a PE ratio of 16.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.40.

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

Avista Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 13th were paid a $0.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.12%. Avista’s payout ratio is 83.76%.

About Avista

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.