Avista Corporation $AVA Shares Sold by Public Sector Pension Investment Board

Key Points

• The Public Sector Pension Investment Board significantly reduced its stake in Avista Corporation by 93.0%, now holding approximately $10.51 million worth of stock.
• Avista's quarterly earnings report revealed an EPS of $0.17, missing estimates, and the firm announced a quarterly dividend of $0.49 per share yielding 5.2%.
• Institutional investors own 85.24% of Avista's stock, showing strong interest from the investment community even amidst fluctuations in share ownership.

Public Sector Pension Investment Board decreased its position in shares of Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA - Free Report) by 93.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 251,089 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 3,325,427 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board owned 0.31% of Avista worth $10,513,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sowell Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Avista during the first quarter valued at approximately $331,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in Avista during the first quarter valued at approximately $790,000. Wesbanco Bank Inc. lifted its position in Avista by 34.7% during the first quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 40,400 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,692,000 after acquiring an additional 10,400 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in Avista during the first quarter valued at approximately $2,289,000. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new stake in Avista during the first quarter valued at approximately $2,115,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.24% of the company's stock.

Avista Stock Down 0.8%

NYSE:AVA traded down $0.29 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $37.00. 261,031 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 735,582. Avista Corporation has a 12-month low of $34.80 and a 12-month high of $43.09. The business has a 50-day moving average of $37.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $38.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 1.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.00 billion, a PE ratio of 16.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.40.

Avista (NYSE:AVA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $400.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $416.06 million. Avista had a return on equity of 6.86% and a net margin of 9.13%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.29 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Avista Corporation will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 19th will be paid a $0.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 19th. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.3%. Avista's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 88.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 1,024 shares of Avista 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 completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 11,515 shares in the company, valued at $435,497.30. This trade represents a 8.17% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.94% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.