Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Reduces Position in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 52.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,196 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 15,639 shares during the period. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Avista were worth $550,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Avista in the second quarter worth about $7,130,000. Peregrine Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Avista in the second quarter worth about $6,506,000. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its position in Avista by 10.1% in the first quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 1,904,651 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $66,701,000 after purchasing an additional 174,951 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in Avista in the second quarter worth about $5,638,000. Finally, Moody Aldrich Partners LLC purchased a new position in Avista in the third quarter worth about $4,725,000. 85.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Avista Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of AVA opened at $37.75 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $37.92 and its 200 day moving average is $37.26. The company has a market capitalization of $2.99 billion, a PE ratio of 15.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.47. Avista Co. has a 12-month low of $31.91 and a 12-month high of $39.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $383.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $389.29 million. Avista had a return on equity of 7.83% and a net margin of 10.24%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.19 EPS. Research analysts expect that Avista Co. will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. Avista’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 75.70%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Avista news, VP David J. Meyer sold 2,400 shares of Avista stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.32, for a total value of $91,968.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 5,436 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $208,307.52. The trade was a 30.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.