AlphaQuest LLC Has $2.50 Million Stock Holdings in Avista Corporation $AVA

Key Points

• AlphaQuest LLC significantly increased its stake in Avista Corporation by 41,275.7% during the first quarter, owning a total of 59,581 shares valued at approximately $2.5 million.
• Avista's stock recently traded at $36.624, reflecting a 0.5% decline, with a market capitalization of $2.97 billion and a reported P/E ratio of 16.5.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.49, which will be paid on September 15th, representing a 5.4% yield based on an annualized dividend payout.

AlphaQuest LLC increased its stake in shares of Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA - Free Report) by 41,275.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 59,581 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 59,437 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC owned 0.07% of Avista worth $2,495,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Avista by 252.3% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 916 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 656 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in Avista in the 1st quarter valued at $43,000. Costello Asset Management INC acquired a new position in Avista in the 1st quarter valued at $102,000. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new position in Avista in the 1st quarter valued at $214,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC acquired a new position in Avista in the 1st quarter valued at $222,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.24% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Avista news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 1,024 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.82, for a total value of $38,727.68. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 11,515 shares of the company's stock, valued at $435,497.30. This represents a 8.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.94% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Avista Stock Performance

NYSE:AVA traded up $0.20 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $36.99. The stock had a trading volume of 213,753 shares, compared to its average volume of 732,767. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.68. Avista Corporation has a 1-year low of $34.80 and a 1-year high of $43.09. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $37.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.66, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.40.

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

Avista Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 19th will be issued a $0.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 19th. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.3%. Avista's dividend payout ratio is 88.29%.

Avista Company 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.