Comerica Bank Sells 7,604 Shares of Avista Corporation $AVA

Comerica Bank cut its holdings in Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA - Free Report) by 14.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 46,173 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 7,604 shares during the period. Comerica Bank owned 0.06% of Avista worth $1,933,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in 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 period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in Avista in the 1st quarter worth approximately $43,000. Costello Asset Management INC bought a new position in Avista in the 1st quarter worth approximately $102,000. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new position in Avista in the 1st quarter worth approximately $214,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Avista in the 1st quarter worth approximately $222,000. 85.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Avista

In other Avista news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 1,024 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the vice president directly owned 11,515 shares in the company, valued at $435,497.30. This represents a 8.17% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.94% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Avista Stock Performance

NYSE AVA opened at $36.43 on Wednesday. Avista Corporation has a 1 year low of $34.80 and a 1 year high of $43.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.95 billion, a PE ratio of 16.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.41. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $37.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $38.78.

Avista (NYSE:AVA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.11). Avista had a return on equity of 6.86% and a net margin of 9.13%.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 prior year, the company earned $0.29 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Avista Corporation will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avista Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 19th will be paid a $0.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 19th. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.4%. Avista's dividend payout ratio is currently 88.29%.

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.

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