Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Reduces Position in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC decreased its position in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA - Free Report) by 11.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 66,466 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 8,897 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned approximately 0.08% of Avista worth $2,783,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AVA. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Avista in the 4th quarter worth $27,139,000. Demars Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Avista in the 4th quarter worth $21,047,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Avista by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,260,857 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $375,855,000 after acquiring an additional 327,535 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 274,270 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RWC Asset Management LLP grew its stake in shares of Avista by 70.4% in the 4th quarter. RWC Asset Management LLP now owns 538,517 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $19,726,000 after acquiring an additional 222,500 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.24% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Avista news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 1,024 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.82, for a total transaction of $38,727.68. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 11,515 shares of the company's stock, valued at $435,497.30. This represents a 8.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.96% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Avista Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of NYSE AVA traded down $0.59 during trading on Friday, hitting $37.28. The stock had a trading volume of 592,940 shares, compared to its average volume of 608,850. Avista Co. has a 12 month low of $33.45 and a 12 month high of $43.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The company has a market capitalization of $3.00 billion, a PE ratio of 14.85, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.41. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $39.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $38.49.

Avista (NYSE:AVA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $603.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $636.30 million. Avista had a return on equity of 7.83% and a net margin of 10.24%. Avista's quarterly revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.91 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Avista Co. will post 2.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avista Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be issued a $0.49 dividend. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 13th. Avista's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 83.76%.

Avista 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.