Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC Increases Stock Position in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC increased its stake in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 37.7% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 342,263 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 93,747 shares during the period. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC’s holdings in Avista were worth $11,846,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVA. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Avista in the 4th quarter worth approximately $18,988,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Avista by 95.4% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 709,707 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,365,000 after acquiring an additional 346,540 shares during the period. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Avista during the second quarter valued at $7,130,000. Peregrine Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Avista in the second quarter valued at about $6,506,000. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its position 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 worth $66,701,000 after purchasing an additional 174,951 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP David J. Meyer sold 2,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.32, for a total transaction of $91,968.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,436 shares in the company, valued at approximately $208,307.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Avista Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE:AVA opened at $38.53 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.47. 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 moving average price of $38.47 and a 200-day moving average price of $36.44. Avista Co. has a one year low of $30.53 and a one year high of $39.99.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.29 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 analysts’ expectations of $386.69 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.23 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Avista Co. will post 2.4 EPS for the current year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.93%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 22nd. Avista’s dividend payout ratio is currently 78.84%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.