Amalgamated Bank Has $826,000 Stock Position in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Amalgamated Bank lessened its holdings in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 2.8% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 23,869 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 679 shares during the quarter. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in Avista were worth $826,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Avista during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Avista during the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in Avista during the second quarter worth $40,000. Quarry LP raised its position in Avista by 67.9% in the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,179 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 477 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new position in Avista during the 1st quarter valued at $73,000. Institutional investors own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP David J. Meyer sold 2,400 shares of the business’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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,436 shares in the company, valued at approximately $208,307.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Avista Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AVA opened at $38.72 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.05 billion, a PE ratio of 16.07, a PEG 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. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $38.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $36.45. Avista Co. has a twelve month low of $30.53 and a twelve month high of $39.99.

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

Avista Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 22nd were issued a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.91%. Avista’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 78.84%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Avista in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $37.00 target price 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.