Federated Hermes Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA)

Key Points

• Federated Hermes Inc. increased its holdings in Avista Corporation by 33.6%, acquiring an additional 10,527 shares, bringing their total ownership to approximately $1.75 million.
• Avista's stock is currently trading down 4.0%, with a market cap of $2.96 billion and a P/E ratio of 15.69, reflecting a challenging financial outlook after missing earnings estimates.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.49, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 5.3%, indicating a strong commitment to returning value to shareholders despite recent performance challenges.

Federated Hermes Inc. grew its holdings in Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA - Free Report) by 33.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 41,885 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 10,527 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. owned 0.05% of Avista worth $1,754,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Avista during the 1st quarter worth $486,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management lifted its position in Avista by 129,436.7% in the first quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 38,861 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,628,000 after buying an additional 38,831 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp purchased a new position in Avista during the first quarter worth about $390,000. LPL Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Avista by 42.3% during the first quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 50,210 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,102,000 after acquiring an additional 14,919 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Avista by 37.3% in the 1st quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 77,755 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,256,000 after acquiring an additional 21,104 shares during the period. 85.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Avista Trading Down 0.1%

Avista stock traded down $0.06 during trading on Friday, hitting $37.38. The company had a trading volume of 1,022,422 shares, compared to its average volume of 746,729. The stock has a market cap of $3.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. Avista Corporation has a 1-year low of $34.80 and a 1-year high of $43.09. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $37.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.72.

Avista (NYSE:AVA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.17 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $416.06 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.29 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Avista Corporation will post 2.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avista Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 19th will be issued a $0.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 19th. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.2%. Avista's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 88.29%.

Insider Transactions at Avista

In related news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 1,024 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 12th. The stock was 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 directly owned 11,515 shares of the company's stock, valued at $435,497.30. The trade was a 8.17% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company 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.