Teacher Retirement System of Texas Lowers Stock Holdings in Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas reduced its position in Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA) by 42.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 31,776 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 23,224 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Avista were worth $1,330,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Headlands Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Avista by 2,474.1% during the 4th quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 695 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 668 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Avista by 252.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 916 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 656 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Avista by 168.7% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,421 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $89,000 after acquiring an additional 1,520 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp acquired a new position in shares of Avista during the 4th quarter valued at $176,000. Finally, Xponance Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Avista during the 4th quarter valued at $206,000. 85.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Avista Stock Performance

NYSE:AVA opened at $37.98 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. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.23, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.40. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $38.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.59. Avista Corporation has a twelve month low of $34.80 and a twelve month high of $43.09.

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). Avista had a net margin of 9.63% and a return on equity of 7.28%. The business had revenue of $603.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $636.30 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.91 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Avista Corporation will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

The business 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. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.16%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 13th. Avista’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 83.76%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 1,024 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 11,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $435,497.30. This represents a 8.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.96% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.