Trexquant Investment LP Grows Position 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 boosted its holdings in Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA - Free Report) by 83.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 56,817 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 25,854 shares during the quarter. Trexquant Investment LP owned about 0.07% of Avista worth $2,379,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AVA. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in 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 acquiring an additional 656 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in Avista in the first quarter worth $43,000. Costello Asset Management INC purchased a new position in Avista in the first quarter worth $102,000. Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new position in Avista in the first quarter worth $214,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC purchased a new position in Avista in the first quarter worth $222,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.24% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Avista

In other news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 1,024 shares of the firm's 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 transaction, the vice president owned 11,515 shares in the company, valued at $435,497.30. This trade represents a 8.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.94% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Avista Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE:AVA opened at $36.42 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $37.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.40, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 1.00. Avista Corporation has a 1 year low of $34.80 and a 1 year high of $43.09.

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

Avista Dividend Announcement

The company 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 $0.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 19th. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.4%. Avista's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 88.29%.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.