D.A. Davidson & CO. Lowers Holdings in Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA)

D.A. Davidson & CO. decreased its position in Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA) by 34.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,262 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 3,338 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Avista were worth $262,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVA. Sowell Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Avista in the 1st quarter valued at $331,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Avista by 2.0% in 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 buying an additional 24,981 shares during the period. Wesbanco Bank Inc. boosted its position in shares of Avista by 34.7% during the 1st quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 40,400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,692,000 after purchasing an additional 10,400 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Avista by 44.0% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 480,744 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $17,610,000 after purchasing an additional 147,007 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted 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 worth $375,855,000 after purchasing an additional 327,535 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 1,024 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Avista Price Performance

Avista stock opened at $37.98 on Friday. Avista Corporation has a 52 week low of $34.80 and a 52 week high of $43.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $38.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.06 billion, a PE ratio of 16.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.40.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.07). Avista had a return on equity of 7.28% and a net margin of 9.63%. The business had revenue of $603.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $636.30 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.91 earnings per share. Avista’s quarterly revenue was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Avista Corporation will post 2.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 13th were paid a $0.49 dividend. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.16%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 13th. Avista’s payout ratio is 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.