Invesco Ltd. Sells 186,819 Shares of Avista Corporation $AVA

Key Points

• Invesco Ltd. reduced its stake in Avista Corporation by 14.6%, selling 186,819 shares, leaving it with approximately 1.36% ownership worth $45.9 million.
• Avista reported a quarterly EPS of $0.17, missing expectations, with revenues of $400 million, which also fell short of estimates.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.49 per share with a yield of 5.3%, scheduled for payment on September 15th.

Invesco Ltd. decreased its stake in Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA - Free Report) by 14.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,096,713 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 186,819 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. owned about 1.36% of Avista worth $45,919,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AVA. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Avista by 252.3% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 916 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 656 shares during the last quarter. Costello Asset Management INC bought a new position in shares of Avista during the first quarter valued at $102,000. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new position in shares of Avista during the fourth quarter valued at $215,000. Cerity Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Avista during the first quarter valued at $222,000. Finally, Vision Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Avista during the first quarter valued at $224,000. Institutional investors own 85.24% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 1,024 shares of the firm'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 completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 11,515 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $435,497.30. This trade represents a 8.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.96% of the company's stock.

Avista Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of AVA stock traded up $0.59 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $37.21. 146,616 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 736,602. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $37.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.77. The stock has a market cap of $3.02 billion, a PE ratio of 16.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.40. Avista Corporation has a 12 month low of $34.80 and a 12 month high of $43.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06.

Avista (NYSE:AVA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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). The business had revenue of $400.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $416.06 million. Avista had a net margin of 9.13% and a return on equity of 6.86%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.29 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Avista Corporation will post 2.3 EPS for the current year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.49 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 19th. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.3%. Avista's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 88.29%.

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.