Mackenzie Financial Corp Acquires New Shares in Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA)

Key Points

• Mackenzie Financial Corp has acquired a new stake in Avista Corporation, purchasing 9,312 shares valued at approximately $390,000 during the first quarter.
• Avista's recent earnings report showed a missed forecast with earnings per share of $0.17, falling short of analysts' expectations of $0.28.
• Avista will pay a quarterly dividend of $0.49 per share on September 15th, representing a 5.2% yield based on an annualized payout of $1.96.

Mackenzie Financial Corp bought a new position in shares of Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 9,312 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $390,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Avista by 252.3% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 916 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 656 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Avista during the first quarter valued at approximately $222,000. Vision Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Avista in the first quarter valued at $224,000. Trust Co. of Vermont grew its holdings in shares of Avista by 7.9% in the first quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 5,494 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $230,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new position in shares of Avista in the fourth quarter valued at $215,000. Institutional investors own 85.24% of the company's stock.

Avista Price Performance

Shares of AVA stock traded down $0.01 on Wednesday, reaching $37.83. The company's stock had a trading volume of 146,086 shares, compared to its average volume of 735,771. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $37.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.76. Avista Corporation has a 1 year low of $34.80 and a 1 year high of $43.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The company has a market capitalization of $3.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.40.

Avista (NYSE:AVA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $400.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $416.06 million. Avista had a return on equity of 6.86% and a net margin of 9.13%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.29 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Avista Corporation will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avista Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 19th. Avista's payout ratio is currently 88.29%.

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 completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 11,515 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $435,497.30. The trade was a 8.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.94% of the company's stock.

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.