Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA) Stake Boosted by GAMMA Investing LLC

GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA - Free Report) by 14,651.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 38,353 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 38,093 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC's holdings in Avista were worth $1,606,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Headlands Technologies LLC raised its stake in Avista by 2,474.1% during the 4th quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 695 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 668 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Avista by 117.8% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 858 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 464 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in Avista by 296.7% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 956 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 715 shares during the period. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Avista by 45.3% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,462 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 456 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Avista by 168.7% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,421 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $89,000 after purchasing an additional 1,520 shares during the period. 85.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Avista Stock Up 0.7%

NYSE:AVA traded up $0.28 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $37.51. 974,310 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 613,464. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $39.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. Avista Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $33.45 and a fifty-two week high of $43.09. The firm has a market cap of $3.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.03, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.41.

Avista (NYSE:AVA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.07). Avista had a net margin of 9.63% and a return on equity of 7.28%. The firm had revenue of $603.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $636.30 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.91 earnings per share. Avista's revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Avista Corporation will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 1,024 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 11,515 shares in the company, valued at $435,497.30. The trade was a 8.17% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Avista Company 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.