Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) Shares Sold by Two Sigma Investments LP

Two Sigma Investments LP lowered its stake in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA - Free Report) by 43.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,878 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 15,449 shares during the period. Two Sigma Investments LP's holdings in Avista were worth $728,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Avista by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,260,857 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $375,855,000 after acquiring an additional 327,535 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Avista by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,967,172 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $108,687,000 after buying an additional 53,222 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Avista by 27.2% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,283,532 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $47,016,000 after buying an additional 274,270 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Avista by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,253,280 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $45,908,000 after buying an additional 24,981 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Avista by 16.6% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,184,838 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $43,401,000 after buying an additional 168,648 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.24% of the company's stock.

Avista Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE AVA traded up $0.13 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $37.93. The stock had a trading volume of 708,525 shares, compared to its average volume of 607,498. The company has a market capitalization of $3.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.11, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.41. Avista Co. has a 1-year low of $33.45 and a 1-year high of $43.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $39.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.49.

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

Avista Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be given a $0.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.17%. 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.