Mutual of America Capital Management LLC Sells 1,383 Shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Mutual of America Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 1.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 116,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,383 shares during the quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.15% of Avista worth $4,032,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Avista in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Mather Group LLC. bought a new position in shares of Avista in the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Avista in the second quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in shares of Avista by 67.9% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,179 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 477 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Avista in the first quarter valued at approximately $73,000. Institutional investors own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Bank of America assumed coverage on Avista in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $37.00 price target for the company.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP David J. Meyer sold 2,400 shares of Avista stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,436 shares in the company, valued at $208,307.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Avista Stock Performance

NYSE:AVA opened at $38.31 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $38.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.36. Avista Co. has a 1 year low of $30.53 and a 1 year high of $39.99. The company has a market capitalization of $3.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.90, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.47.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.07. Avista had a return on equity of 7.77% and a net margin of 10.12%. The business had revenue of $390.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $386.69 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.23 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Avista Co. will post 2.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Avista Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd were given a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 22nd. Avista’s dividend payout ratio is currently 78.84%.

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.