Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) Shares Sold by Dimensional Fund Advisors LP

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP cut its position in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA - Free Report) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,541,469 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 35,237 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 1.95% of Avista worth $56,464,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AVA. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Avista by 290.6% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 137,408 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $5,325,000 after purchasing an additional 102,231 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in Avista during the third quarter worth $155,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 34,829 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in Avista by 43.0% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,723 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 518 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Avista during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,672,000. 85.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Avista Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AVA traded down $0.12 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $41.83. 855,757 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 578,528. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.36 billion, a PE ratio of 16.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42. 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 Co. has a 52-week low of $33.45 and a 52-week high of $43.09.

Avista (NYSE:AVA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.86 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $517.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $487.48 million. Avista had a net margin of 10.24% and a return on equity of 7.83%. 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. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be given a $0.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.69%. Avista's dividend payout ratio is currently 86.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Avista

In other Avista news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 2,298 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.75, for a total transaction of $89,047.50. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 12,539 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $485,886.25. This trade represents a 15.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Avista from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a 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.