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

Jane Street Group LLC reduced its stake in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA - Free Report) by 93.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm 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 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Avista by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,253,280 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $45,908,000 after acquiring an additional 24,981 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Avista by 44.0% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 480,744 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $17,610,000 after purchasing an additional 147,007 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Avista by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,260,857 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $375,855,000 after purchasing an additional 327,535 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Avista in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $561,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Avista in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,007,000. 85.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Avista Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE:AVA opened at $37.19 on Friday. Avista Co. has a 12 month low of $33.45 and a 12 month high of $43.09. The firm has a market cap of $3.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.82, a P/E/G 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. The company's 50 day moving average is $40.07 and its 200-day moving average is $38.53.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.07). Avista had a return on equity of 7.83% and a net margin of 10.24%. The company had revenue of $603.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $636.30 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.91 EPS. The company's revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Avista Co. 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 Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be issued a $0.49 dividend. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.27%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 13th. Avista's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 83.76%.

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.

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