Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Cuts Stake in Avista Corporation $AVA

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA) by 7.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,033 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 457 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Avista were worth $231,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AVA. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Avista by 531.2% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,370,502 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $57,383,000 after purchasing an additional 1,153,389 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its holdings in Avista by 8,255.8% in the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 504,354 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $21,117,000 after acquiring an additional 498,318 shares during the period. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC bought a new position in Avista in the first quarter valued at about $19,645,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. bought a new position in Avista in the first quarter valued at about $19,252,000. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Avista in the first quarter valued at about $17,391,000. 85.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Avista

In other news, SVP Bryan Alden Cox purchased 3,671 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 16th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $35.55 per share, for a total transaction of $130,504.05. Following the purchase, the senior vice president owned 9,989 shares in the company, valued at $355,108.95. This trade represents a 58.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP David J. Meyer sold 1,367 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.72, for a total value of $50,196.24. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 8,394 shares in the company, valued at $308,227.68. The trade was a 14.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.96% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Avista in a report on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $39.00.

Avista Price Performance

NYSE:AVA opened at $37.05 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.69, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.39. Avista Corporation has a 1 year low of $34.80 and a 1 year high of $43.09. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $36.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.68.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.11). Avista had a return on equity of 6.86% and a net margin of 9.13%.The business had revenue of $400.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $416.06 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.29 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Avista Corporation will post 2.3 EPS for the current year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 19th were paid a dividend of $0.49 per share. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.3%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 19th. Avista’s payout ratio is 88.29%.

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.