Amalgamated Bank Trims Stock Position in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Amalgamated Bank reduced its stake in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 23,162 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 707 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in Avista were worth $898,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of Avista by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 21,518 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $828,000 after purchasing an additional 1,464 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Avista by 56.4% in the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 53,197 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,061,000 after buying an additional 19,182 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in Avista by 16.3% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 8,706 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $337,000 after buying an additional 1,218 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its stake in Avista by 75.2% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 14,775 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $573,000 after buying an additional 6,344 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its stake in Avista by 7.3% during the third quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 6,330 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $245,000 after buying an additional 428 shares during the period. 85.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Avista Stock Performance

Avista stock opened at $37.21 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.95 billion, a PE ratio of 14.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.47. Avista Co. has a one year low of $31.91 and a one year high of $39.99. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $37.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.75.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.13 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $383.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $389.29 million. Avista had a net margin of 10.24% and a return on equity of 7.83%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.19 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Avista Co. will post 2.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Avista

In related news, VP David J. Meyer sold 2,400 shares of Avista stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.32, for a total value of $91,968.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 5,436 shares in the company, valued at approximately $208,307.52. The trade was a 30.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Avista 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.