Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC Has $354,000 Holdings in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 5.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,234 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 611 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC’s holdings in Avista were worth $354,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in Avista during the first quarter worth about $27,000. Mather Group LLC. bought a new stake in shares of Avista in the first quarter valued at about $32,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Avista in the second quarter valued at about $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 stake in shares of Avista in the first quarter valued at about $73,000. 85.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Avista Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AVA opened at $38.72 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $38.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $36.48. The company has a market cap of $3.05 billion, a PE ratio of 16.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. Avista Co. has a twelve month low of $30.53 and a twelve month high of $39.99.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.29 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $390.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $386.69 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.23 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Avista Co. will post 2.4 EPS for the current year.

Avista Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 22nd. Avista’s payout ratio is presently 78.84%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Avista news, VP David J. Meyer sold 2,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.32, for a total transaction of $91,968.00. Following the completion of 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Bank of America began coverage on Avista in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $37.00 price target on the stock.

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.