Voloridge Investment Management LLC Sells 49,661 Shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Voloridge Investment Management LLC lowered its stake in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA - Free Report) by 22.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 168,838 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 49,661 shares during the quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC owned about 0.21% of Avista worth $6,185,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AVA. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in Avista by 290.6% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 137,408 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $5,325,000 after purchasing an additional 102,231 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Avista by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 96,959 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,552,000 after purchasing an additional 13,431 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its position in shares of Avista by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 19,483 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $714,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in Avista by 97.7% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,148 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $152,000 after buying an additional 2,050 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Groesbeck Investment Management Corp NJ purchased a new stake in Avista during the fourth quarter valued at about $464,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.24% of the company's stock.

Avista Trading Down 0.3%

AVA stock traded down $0.11 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $38.29. 160,976 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 604,983. The company has a market cap of $3.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42. The stock's fifty day moving average is $40.32 and its 200-day moving average is $38.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. Avista Co. has a 52-week low of $33.45 and a 52-week high of $43.09.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $603.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $636.30 million. Avista had a net margin of 10.24% and a return on equity of 7.83%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.91 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Avista Co. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Avista Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.49 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.12%. Avista's payout ratio is presently 83.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Avista

In related news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 2,298 shares of Avista stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.75, for a total value of $89,047.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 12,539 shares of the company's stock, valued at $485,886.25. The trade was a 15.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company's stock.

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.