Teacher Retirement System of Texas Has $1.33 Million Stake in Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas cut its holdings in shares of Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA - Free Report) by 42.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 31,776 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 23,224 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas' holdings in Avista were worth $1,330,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Headlands Technologies LLC lifted its stake 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 stake 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 last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Avista by 168.7% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,421 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $89,000 after purchasing an additional 1,520 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp bought a new stake in Avista during the fourth quarter worth $176,000. Finally, Xponance Inc. bought a new position in shares of Avista in the 4th quarter valued at $206,000. 85.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 1,024 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 12th. The stock was 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 represents a 8.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.94% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Avista Price Performance

Shares of AVA traded up $0.17 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $37.68. The stock had a trading volume of 572,242 shares, compared to its average volume of 623,467. Avista Corporation has a 12 month low of $34.80 and a 12 month high of $43.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.04 billion, a PE ratio of 16.10, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.93. The company's 50-day moving average is $38.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.61.

Avista (NYSE:AVA - Get Free Report) last announced 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). Avista had a net margin of 9.63% and a return on equity of 7.28%. The firm had revenue of $603.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $636.30 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.91 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Avista Corporation will post 2.3 EPS for the current year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 13th were issued a $0.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.20%. Avista's payout ratio is 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.