CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its position in Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA - Free Report) by 32.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 60,290 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 14,633 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC owned approximately 0.08% of Avista worth $2,524,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.
Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AVA. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in Avista by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 23,446 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $859,000 after acquiring an additional 1,928 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its stake in Avista by 13.5% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 8,141 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $298,000 after acquiring an additional 967 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 715 shares in the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D boosted its stake in Avista by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 54,144 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,983,000 after acquiring an additional 3,413 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Avista by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 439,680 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $16,105,000 after acquiring an additional 19,153 shares in the last quarter. 85.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Insider Activity at Avista
In other Avista news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 1,024 shares of Avista 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 now owns 11,515 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $435,497.30. The trade was a 8.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
Avista Stock Performance
Shares of NYSE:AVA traded down $0.11 on Friday, hitting $37.40. 1,811,506 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 619,063. Avista Corporation has a 1-year low of $33.45 and a 1-year high of $43.09. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $39.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.41.
Avista (NYSE:AVA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.07). Avista had a return on equity of 7.28% and a net margin of 9.63%. The company had revenue of $603.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $636.30 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.91 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Avista Corporation will post 2.3 EPS for the current year.
Avista Announces Dividend
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 13th were given a dividend of $0.49 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.24%. Avista's dividend payout ratio is presently 83.76%.
About Avista
(
Free Report)
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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