Ameriprise Financial Inc. Sells 8,476 Shares of Avista Corporation $AVA

Key Points

• Ameriprise Financial Inc. reduced its stake in Avista Corporation by 0.3%, owning approximately 3.67% of the company worth $123.88 million after selling 8,476 shares.
• Avista reported a net margin of 9.13% and earnings per share (EPS) of $0.17 for the last quarter, missing analysts' expectations of $0.28 EPS.
• The company has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.49 per share, representing a yield of 5.3% with a payout ratio of 88.29%.

Ameriprise Financial Inc. lessened its position in shares of Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA - Free Report) by 0.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,958,696 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 8,476 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned approximately 3.67% of Avista worth $123,881,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Avista by 252.3% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 916 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 656 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in shares of Avista in the 1st quarter worth $43,000. Costello Asset Management INC bought a new position in shares of Avista in the 1st quarter worth $102,000. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Avista in the 1st quarter worth $214,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Avista in the 1st quarter worth $222,000. Institutional investors own 85.24% of the company's stock.

Avista Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AVA traded up $0.25 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $37.04. The company had a trading volume of 561,095 shares, compared to its average volume of 762,629. The company has a fifty day moving average of $37.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $38.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.40. Avista Corporation has a 12 month low of $34.80 and a 12 month high of $43.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06.

Avista (NYSE:AVA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 6.86% and a net margin of 9.13%.During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.29 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Avista Corporation will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Avista Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 19th. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.3%. Avista's dividend payout ratio is presently 88.29%.

Insider Activity at Avista

In other 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 transaction, the vice president 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.96% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.