Jane Street Group LLC Has $221,000 Stake in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Jane Street Group LLC reduced its stake in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA - Free Report) by 93.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,036 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 82,210 shares during the quarter. Jane Street Group LLC's holdings in Avista were worth $221,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Comerica Bank lifted its holdings in Avista by 67.6% in the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 53,777 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,970,000 after buying an additional 21,692 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Avista by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,025,055 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $37,548,000 after buying an additional 79,576 shares during the period. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new position in Avista in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,066,000. Syon Capital LLC acquired a new position in Avista in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $366,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Avista by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 66,750 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,446,000 after buying an additional 5,650 shares during the period. 85.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Avista Trading Up 0.0%

NYSE AVA traded up $0.00 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $37.31. The company's stock had a trading volume of 446,389 shares, compared to its average volume of 606,449. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $39.86 and a 200 day moving average of $38.50. Avista Co. has a twelve month low of $33.45 and a twelve month high of $43.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.87, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05.

Avista (NYSE:AVA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $603.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $636.30 million. Avista had a return on equity of 7.83% and a net margin of 10.24%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.91 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Avista Co. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be issued a $0.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.25%. Avista's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 83.76%.

Avista 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.