Victory Capital Management Inc. Has $16.28 Million Stock Holdings in Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA)

Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA - Free Report) by 8.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 388,727 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 30,271 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 0.48% of Avista worth $16,276,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Avista during the 4th quarter valued at $27,139,000. Demars Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Avista in the 4th quarter valued at about $21,047,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Avista by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,260,857 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $375,855,000 after buying an additional 327,535 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Avista by 27.2% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,283,532 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $47,016,000 after buying an additional 274,270 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ATLAS Infrastructure Partners UK Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Avista in the 4th quarter worth approximately $7,960,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.24% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 11,515 shares in the company, valued at approximately $435,497.30. This represents a 8.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Avista Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of Avista stock traded up $0.12 during trading on Friday, hitting $37.08. The stock had a trading volume of 206,088 shares, compared to its average volume of 732,918. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $37.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.65. The company has a market capitalization of $2.99 billion, a PE ratio of 15.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. Avista Corporation has a 1 year low of $34.80 and a 1 year high of $43.09.

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 for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $603.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $636.30 million. Avista had a return on equity of 7.28% and a net margin of 9.63%. Avista's quarterly revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.91 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Avista Corporation will post 2.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avista Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 13th were paid a dividend of $0.49 per share. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 13th. Avista's payout ratio is currently 83.76%.

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.