Jennison Associates LLC Purchases Shares of 16,497 Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA)

Jennison Associates LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 16,497 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $691,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVA. Headlands Technologies LLC grew its position in Avista by 2,474.1% during the fourth quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 695 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 668 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Avista by 252.3% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 916 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 656 shares during the period. Xponance Inc. bought a new position in Avista during the fourth quarter worth about $206,000. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new position in Avista during the fourth quarter worth about $215,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC bought a new position in Avista during the first quarter worth about $222,000. Institutional investors own 85.24% of the company's stock.

Avista Price Performance

Shares of Avista stock traded up $0.19 on Friday, reaching $37.15. The stock had a trading volume of 502,754 shares, compared to its average volume of 667,240. Avista Corporation has a 1 year low of $34.80 and a 1 year high of $43.09. The company has a market cap of $2.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The business's 50 day moving average is $37.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.65.

Avista (NYSE:AVA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 7.28% and a net margin of 9.63%. The firm had revenue of $603.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $636.30 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.91 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Avista Corporation will post 2.3 EPS for the current year.

Avista Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 13th were paid a $0.49 dividend. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 13th. Avista's dividend payout ratio is currently 83.76%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 1,024 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.82, for a total value of $38,727.68. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 11,515 shares of the company's stock, valued at $435,497.30. This trade represents a 8.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.96% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.