Vanguard Group Inc. Buys 99,365 Shares of Avista Corporation $AVA

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Avista Corporation by 1.0% in Q1, owning approximately 12.90% of the company, valued at $433.78 million.
• Avista reported a loss in earnings for the last quarter, with earnings per share of $0.17 compared to the estimate of $0.28, and revenue of $400 million below the expected $416.06 million.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.49 per share, with a dividend yield of 5.3%, to be paid on September 15th.

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA - Free Report) by 1.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,360,222 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 99,365 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 12.90% of Avista worth $433,782,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Avista by 252.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 916 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 656 shares during the period. Costello Asset Management INC purchased a new position in shares of Avista in the first quarter valued at about $102,000. Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new position in shares of Avista in the fourth quarter valued at about $215,000. Cerity Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Avista in the first quarter valued at about $222,000. Finally, Vision Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Avista in the first quarter valued at about $224,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.24% of the company's stock.

Avista Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of AVA stock traded down $0.3520 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $36.7980. The stock had a trading volume of 672,445 shares, compared to its average volume of 832,620. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $37.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.77. Avista Corporation has a 52-week low of $34.80 and a 52-week high of $43.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.98 billion, a PE ratio of 16.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.40. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $400.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $416.06 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.29 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Avista Corporation will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.49 per share. 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 payout ratio is presently 88.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Avista

In other news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 1,024 shares of Avista stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.82, for a total transaction of $38,727.68. Following the sale, the vice president owned 11,515 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $435,497.30. The trade was a 8.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.96% of the company's stock.

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.