Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) Shares Bought by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 9.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 20,054 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,805 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Avista were worth $694,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Avista in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $18,988,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in Avista by 95.4% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 709,707 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,365,000 after purchasing an additional 346,540 shares during the period. Peregrine Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Avista during the 2nd quarter worth $6,506,000. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its stake in Avista by 10.1% in the first quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 1,904,651 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $66,701,000 after purchasing an additional 174,951 shares during the period. Finally, Invenomic Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Avista in the fourth quarter valued at $4,960,000. 85.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Avista Price Performance

Shares of AVA opened at $38.41 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.88. Avista Co. has a fifty-two week low of $30.53 and a fifty-two week high of $39.99. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $37.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $35.99. The company has a market capitalization of $3.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.94 and a beta of 0.47.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.07. Avista had a return on equity of 7.77% and a net margin of 10.12%. The company had revenue of $390.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $386.69 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.23 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Avista Co. will post 2.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be given a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.95%. Avista’s payout ratio is currently 78.84%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP David J. Meyer sold 2,400 shares of Avista stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.32, for a total value of $91,968.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,436 shares in the company, valued at $208,307.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by 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.