Virtu Financial LLC Makes New Investment in Avista Corporation $AVA

Key Points

• Virtu Financial LLC has acquired a new stake in Avista Corporation, purchasing 10,715 shares valued at approximately $449,000 in the first quarter.
• Avista recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.49 per share, with a dividend yield of 5.2%, to be paid on September 15th.
• The company reported earnings results showing EPS of $0.17, which missed analysts' expectations of $0.28, alongside a revenue of $400 million.

Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 10,715 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $449,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Xponance Inc. increased its position in Avista by 5.5% during the first quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 5,934 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $248,000 after purchasing an additional 307 shares during the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. grew its stake in shares of Avista by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 10,131 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $424,000 after buying an additional 313 shares during the period. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Avista by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 137,767 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $5,046,000 after buying an additional 359 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont increased its holdings in shares of Avista by 7.9% during the 1st quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 5,494 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $230,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in shares of Avista by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 28,722 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,052,000 after buying an additional 415 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.24% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Avista

In other Avista news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 1,024 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the vice president owned 11,515 shares of the company's stock, valued at $435,497.30. The trade was a 8.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.94% of the company's stock.

Avista Trading Down 0.8%

Avista stock traded down $0.29 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $37.00. The company's stock had a trading volume of 261,031 shares, compared to its average volume of 735,582. Avista Corporation has a 1 year low of $34.80 and a 1 year high of $43.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.00 billion, a PE ratio of 16.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.40. The stock's fifty day moving average is $37.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.79.

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

Avista Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 19th will be given a dividend of $0.49 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 19th. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.3%. Avista's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 88.29%.

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.