Exchange Traded Concepts LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA)

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its position in Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA - Free Report) by 136.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 46,121 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 26,638 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC owned about 0.06% of Avista worth $1,931,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Headlands Technologies LLC increased its holdings in Avista by 2,474.1% in the fourth quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 695 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 668 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Avista by 117.8% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 858 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 464 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in Avista by 296.7% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 956 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 715 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 656 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Avista by 45.3% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,462 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 456 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.24% of the company's stock.

Avista Price Performance

Avista stock traded up $0.28 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $37.51. The company had a trading volume of 974,310 shares, compared to its average volume of 613,464. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.64. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $39.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.44. Avista Corporation has a 1 year low of $33.45 and a 1 year high of $43.09. The company has a market capitalization of $3.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.41.

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). Avista had a return on equity of 7.28% and a net margin of 9.63%. The business had revenue of $603.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $636.30 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.91 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Avista Corporation will post 2.3 EPS for the current year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th were paid a dividend of $0.49 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.23%. Avista's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 83.76%.

Insider Transactions at Avista

In other news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 1,024 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.82, for a total transaction of $38,727.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 11,515 shares of the company's stock, valued at $435,497.30. This trade represents a 8.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company's stock.

About Avista

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.