Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) Shares Sold by Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. lessened its stake in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 7.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 300,423 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 23,352 shares during the quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.’s holdings in Avista were worth $11,641,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in Avista by 109.6% in the second quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 34,015 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,177,000 after acquiring an additional 17,784 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in shares of Avista by 383.0% during the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 27,941 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $967,000 after acquiring an additional 22,156 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Avista by 9.0% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 420,527 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $16,295,000 after purchasing an additional 34,829 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in Avista in the 2nd quarter valued at about $5,638,000. Finally, Algert Global LLC increased its stake in Avista by 202.2% during the 3rd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 57,617 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,233,000 after buying an additional 38,550 shares during the period. 85.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Avista in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $37.00 price objective for the company.

Avista Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AVA traded up $0.06 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $38.60. 348,283 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 567,726. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $37.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.34. The company has a market cap of $3.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 0.47. 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 Co. has a 52 week low of $31.91 and a 52 week high of $39.99.

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

Avista Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.92%. Avista’s payout ratio is presently 75.70%.

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.