Millennium Management LLC Has $57.38 Million Stock Holdings in Avista Corporation $AVA

Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA - Free Report) by 531.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,370,502 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 1,153,389 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC owned approximately 1.70% of Avista worth $57,383,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Avista by 1.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,360,222 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $433,782,000 after acquiring an additional 99,365 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its stake in Avista by 8.1% during the first quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 1,382,168 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $57,871,000 after acquiring an additional 103,844 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Avista by 1.1% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,266,825 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $53,042,000 after acquiring an additional 13,545 shares during the period. Demars Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Avista by 18.8% during the first quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC now owns 682,659 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $28,583,000 after acquiring an additional 108,072 shares during the period. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Avista by 8,255.8% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 504,354 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $21,117,000 after purchasing an additional 498,318 shares during the period. 85.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Avista

In other Avista news, VP David J. Meyer sold 1,367 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.72, for a total transaction of $50,196.24. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 8,394 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $308,227.68. This represents a 14.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.96% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Avista Price Performance

Shares of AVA stock traded up $0.02 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $36.46. The company had a trading volume of 209,403 shares, compared to its average volume of 722,479. Avista Corporation has a 12 month low of $34.80 and a 12 month high of $43.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.42, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.41. The firm's fifty day moving average is $37.24 and its 200 day moving average is $38.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 1.00.

Avista (NYSE:AVA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $400.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $416.06 million. Avista had a net margin of 9.13% and a return on equity of 6.86%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.29 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Avista Corporation will post 2.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avista Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 19th will be issued a $0.49 dividend. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 19th. Avista's payout ratio is presently 88.29%.

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.