CWA Asset Management Group LLC Purchases 14,633 Shares of Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA)

CWA Asset Management Group LLC boosted its position in Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA - Free Report) by 32.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 60,290 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 14,633 shares during the quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC owned approximately 0.08% of Avista worth $2,524,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Demars Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Avista by 18.8% in the first quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC now owns 682,659 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $28,583,000 after buying an additional 108,072 shares in the last quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Avista in the first quarter worth approximately $331,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its stake in Avista by 9.7% in the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 17,649 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $739,000 after buying an additional 1,561 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its stake in Avista by 136.7% in the first quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 46,121 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,931,000 after buying an additional 26,638 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Avista by 112.3% in the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 66,035 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,765,000 after buying an additional 34,931 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.24% of the company's stock.

Avista Price Performance

AVA traded down $0.11 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $37.40. The stock had a trading volume of 1,811,506 shares, compared to its average volume of 616,899. The company has a market cap of $3.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.41. The business has a fifty day moving average of $39.38 and a 200 day moving average of $38.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.93. Avista Corporation has a 1 year low of $33.45 and a 1 year high of $43.09.

Avista (NYSE:AVA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $603.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $636.30 million. Avista had a net margin of 9.63% and a return on equity of 7.28%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.91 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Avista Corporation will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 13th were issued 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 5.24%. Avista's dividend payout ratio is presently 83.76%.

Insider Activity at Avista

In other Avista news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 1,024 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 12th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $435,497.30. This represents a 8.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.96% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.