SG Americas Securities LLC Purchases 8,406 Shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA - Free Report) by 23.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 44,281 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 8,406 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC owned 0.06% of Avista worth $1,854,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Headlands Technologies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Avista by 2,474.1% during the fourth quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 695 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 668 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Avista by 117.8% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 858 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 464 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Avista by 252.3% in 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 in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in Avista by 296.7% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 956 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 715 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Avista by 45.3% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,462 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 456 shares during the last quarter. 85.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Avista news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 1,024 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 now directly owns 11,515 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $435,497.30. This represents a 8.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company's stock.

Avista Stock Down 1.0%

AVA stock traded down $0.39 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $36.93. The company's stock had a trading volume of 577,828 shares, compared to its average volume of 609,254. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.71, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.41. Avista Co. has a twelve month low of $33.45 and a twelve month high of $43.09. The company's fifty day moving average price is $39.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.48.

Avista (NYSE:AVA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $603.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $636.30 million. Avista had a return on equity of 7.83% and a net margin of 10.24%. Avista's revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.91 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Avista Co. will post 2.3 EPS for the current year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th were given a dividend of $0.49 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.31%. Avista's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 83.76%.

Avista Company 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.