JPMorgan Chase & Co. Cuts Stock Position in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut its stake in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 14.2% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 333,737 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 55,065 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in Avista were worth $12,932,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in shares of Avista during the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Avista during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Avista during the second quarter valued at approximately $40,000. KBC Group NV lifted its position in shares of Avista by 46.9% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,098 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $81,000 after acquiring an additional 670 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Avista by 256.6% in the second quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 2,714 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $94,000 after acquiring an additional 1,953 shares during the last quarter. 85.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Avista Stock Down 3.5 %

Shares of NYSE AVA opened at $35.27 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The company has a 50-day moving average of $37.20 and a 200 day moving average of $37.51. Avista Co. has a 12-month low of $31.91 and a 12-month high of $39.99. The stock has a market cap of $2.79 billion, a PE ratio of 14.05, a P/E/G ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.49.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.13 by $0.10. Avista had a return on equity of 7.83% and a net margin of 10.24%. The business had revenue of $383.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $389.29 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.19 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Avista Co. will post 2.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were given a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.39%. Avista’s payout ratio is 75.70%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Avista in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $40.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $36.75.

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.