Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) Shares Sold by Public Sector Pension Investment Board

Public Sector Pension Investment Board reduced its position in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 0.1% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,546,460 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 5,000 shares during the period. Avista comprises 0.7% of Public Sector Pension Investment Board’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Public Sector Pension Investment Board’s holdings in Avista were worth $137,425,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Glenmede Trust Co. NA purchased a new position in Avista in the 3rd quarter valued at $697,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in shares of Avista by 18.1% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 49,575 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,921,000 after buying an additional 7,581 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in Avista by 4.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 17,430 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $675,000 after acquiring an additional 707 shares during the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its stake in Avista by 12.2% during the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 9,557 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $370,000 after acquiring an additional 1,041 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Algert Global LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Avista by 202.2% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

Avista Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of Avista stock opened at $38.61 on Thursday. Avista Co. has a fifty-two week low of $31.91 and a fifty-two week high of $39.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.38, a PEG ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 0.47. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $37.99 and a 200 day moving average of $37.34.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.23 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $383.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $389.29 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.19 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Avista Co. will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Avista Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.