Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) Shares Sold by Balyasny Asset Management L.P.

Balyasny Asset Management L.P. decreased its holdings in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA - Free Report) by 70.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 33,477 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 78,006 shares during the quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P.'s holdings in Avista were worth $1,226,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVA. Headlands Technologies LLC lifted its stake in Avista by 2,474.1% during the fourth quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 695 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 668 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Avista by 117.8% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 858 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 464 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in Avista by 296.7% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 956 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 715 shares during the period. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Avista by 45.3% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,462 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 456 shares during the period. Finally, Eastern Bank grew its holdings in Avista by 309.3% during the fourth quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 1,842 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 1,392 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.24% of the company's stock.

Avista Price Performance

AVA traded up $0.15 during trading on Monday, reaching $39.10. 1,823,840 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 600,304. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.48. Avista Co. has a 1 year low of $33.45 and a 1 year high of $43.09. The business's 50 day moving average price is $40.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.47. The company has a market capitalization of $3.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42.

Avista (NYSE:AVA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.07). Avista had a net margin of 10.24% and a return on equity of 7.83%. The company had revenue of $603.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $636.30 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.91 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Avista Co. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be given a dividend of $0.49 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.01%. Avista's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 83.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 2,298 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.75, for a total value of $89,047.50. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 12,539 shares in the company, valued at approximately $485,886.25. This trade represents a 15.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Avista from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th.

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.