South Dakota Investment Council Increases Stock Holdings in Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA)

South Dakota Investment Council boosted its position in shares of Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA - Free Report) by 42.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 52,782 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 15,600 shares during the quarter. South Dakota Investment Council owned 0.07% of Avista worth $2,210,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 668 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Avista by 252.3% in the 1st 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. Cerity Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Avista in the 1st quarter valued at $222,000. Vision Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Avista in the 1st quarter valued at $224,000. Finally, Trust Co. of Vermont increased its stake in Avista by 7.9% during the 1st 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.24% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 transaction 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 represents a 8.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Avista Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NYSE AVA traded down $0.15 during trading on Thursday, hitting $37.18. The stock had a trading volume of 241,450 shares, compared to its average volume of 733,797. Avista Corporation has a 12 month low of $34.80 and a 12 month high of $43.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.64. The company has a market capitalization of $2.99 billion, a PE ratio of 15.88, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.40. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $37.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $38.64.

Avista (NYSE:AVA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $603.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $636.30 million. Avista had a return on equity of 7.28% and a net margin of 9.63%. Avista's quarterly revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.91 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Avista Corporation will post 2.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th were issued a dividend of $0.49 per share. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.27%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 13th. Avista's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.