HighTower Advisors LLC Lowers Stock Position in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

HighTower Advisors LLC trimmed its position in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 20.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,305 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 4,821 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Avista were worth $756,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Algert Global LLC boosted its position in shares of Avista by 202.2% in the third quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 57,617 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,233,000 after purchasing an additional 38,550 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Avista by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 420,527 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $16,295,000 after buying an additional 34,829 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Avista during the 2nd quarter valued at $5,638,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its holdings in Avista by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 3,551,460 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $122,916,000 after buying an additional 13,445 shares during the period. Finally, Citigroup Inc. increased its stake in Avista by 30.7% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 176,459 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,838,000 after buying an additional 41,431 shares in the last quarter. 85.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Avista Stock Down 3.5 %

Shares of AVA stock opened at $35.46 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $37.76 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.33. Avista Co. has a 52 week low of $31.91 and a 52 week high of $39.99. The stock has a market cap of $2.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.13, a PEG ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05.

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. Avista had a return on equity of 7.83% and a net margin of 10.24%. The company had revenue of $383.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $389.29 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.19 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Avista Co. will post 2.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avista Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 of this dividend was Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.36%. Avista’s dividend payout ratio is currently 75.70%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on AVA shares. Bank of America began coverage on Avista in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $37.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Avista in a report on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $40.00 price target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $36.75.

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.