Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA) Shares Acquired by Envestnet Asset Management Inc.

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA) by 11.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 331,166 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 34,049 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. owned about 0.41% of Avista worth $13,866,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AVA. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Avista during the fourth quarter worth about $27,139,000. Demars Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Avista during the fourth quarter worth about $21,047,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Avista by 3.3% during the fourth 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. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Avista by 27.2% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,283,532 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $47,016,000 after buying an additional 274,270 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ATLAS Infrastructure Partners UK Ltd. acquired a new position in Avista in the 4th quarter valued at about $7,960,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Avista

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

Avista Stock Down 0.8%

AVA opened at $37.25 on Friday. Avista Corporation has a 52 week low of $34.80 and a 52 week high of $43.09. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $37.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.61. 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 company has a market cap of $3.00 billion, a PE ratio of 15.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.40.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $603.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $636.30 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.91 EPS. Avista’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Avista Corporation will post 2.3 EPS for the current year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.26%. Avista’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.