Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) Shares Sold by Avantax Advisory Services Inc.

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 5.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 6,246 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 374 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Avista were worth $229,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVA. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in Avista by 117.8% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 858 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 464 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in shares of Avista by 296.7% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 715 shares in the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Avista by 45.3% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,462 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 456 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in Avista by 43.0% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,723 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 518 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eastern Bank lifted its position in Avista by 309.3% during the 4th quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 1,842 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 1,392 shares in the last quarter. 85.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Avista

In related news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 2,298 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.75, for a total value of $89,047.50. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 12,539 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $485,886.25. The trade was a 15.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Avista Stock Performance

NYSE:AVA opened at $39.94 on Thursday. Avista Co. has a 1-year low of $33.00 and a 1-year high of $40.23. The stock has a market cap of $3.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.91, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $38.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.73.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by ($0.02). Avista had a net margin of 10.24% and a return on equity of 7.83%. The business had revenue of $517.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $487.48 million. On average, research analysts expect that Avista Co. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avista Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 26th were paid a $0.49 dividend. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.91%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 26th. This is a positive change from Avista’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Avista’s payout ratio is 86.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Avista from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th.

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.