Trexquant Investment LP Grows Stock Holdings in Avista Corporation $AVA

Key Points

• Trexquant Investment LP significantly increased its stake in Avista Corporation by 83.5%, owning approximately 56,817 shares worth $2.37 million as of the latest SEC filing.
• Avista announced a quarterly dividend of $0.49, with a dividend yield of 5.4%, set to be paid on September 15th to shareholders of record as of August 19th.
• In its latest earnings report, Avista Corporation missed consensus estimates by reporting $0.17 earnings per share versus the expected $0.28, alongside a revenue of $400 million against an estimate of $416 million.

Trexquant Investment LP increased its stake in Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA - Free Report) by 83.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 56,817 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 25,854 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP owned approximately 0.07% of Avista worth $2,379,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AVA. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Avista by 252.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 916 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 656 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Avista during the first quarter worth about $43,000. Costello Asset Management INC purchased a new position in shares of Avista during the first quarter worth about $102,000. Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of Avista during the first quarter worth about $214,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Avista during the first quarter worth about $222,000. 85.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Avista Stock Performance

NYSE:AVA traded up $0.03 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $36.14. The stock had a trading volume of 92,190 shares, compared to its average volume of 725,316. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $2.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.28, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.41. Avista Corporation has a twelve month low of $34.80 and a twelve month high of $43.09. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $37.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.76.

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

Avista Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 19th will be given a dividend of $0.49 per share. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.4%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 19th. Avista's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 88.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 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 transaction of $38,727.68. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 11,515 shares in the company, valued at approximately $435,497.30. This trade represents a 8.17% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP David J. Meyer sold 1,367 shares of Avista stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.72, for a total value of $50,196.24. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 8,394 shares of the company's stock, valued at $308,227.68. This represents a 14.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.94% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Avista

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.