XTX Topco Ltd Buys New Shares in Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA)

Key Points

• XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in Avista Corporation during the 1st quarter, purchasing 54,681 shares valued at approximately $2.29 million, representing about 0.07% of the company.
• Other significant institutional investors, such as Norges Bank and Vanguard Group Inc., have also increased their stakes in Avista, with a collective 85.24% of the stock now owned by institutional investors.
• Avista reported a quarterly earnings miss, with an EPS of $0.98, falling short of the consensus estimate of $1.05, while also reporting a revenue of $603 million against expectations of $636 million.

XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 54,681 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,289,000. XTX Topco Ltd owned approximately 0.07% of Avista as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Avista by 3.3% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Avista by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,967,172 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $108,687,000 after purchasing an additional 53,222 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Avista by 27.2% during the fourth 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 period. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Avista by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,025,055 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $37,548,000 after buying an additional 79,576 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Avista during the fourth quarter worth about $27,139,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.24% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 1,024 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 11,515 shares in the company, valued at $435,497.30. This represents a 8.17% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.96% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Avista Stock Up 0.5%

NYSE AVA traded up $0.19 during trading on Friday, hitting $37.49. The stock had a trading volume of 533,613 shares, compared to its average volume of 644,697. Avista Corporation has a 12 month low of $34.80 and a 12 month high of $43.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.93. The company's 50-day moving average price is $37.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.72. The company has a market capitalization of $3.02 billion, a PE ratio of 16.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.40.

Avista (NYSE:AVA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.07). Avista had a net margin of 9.63% and a return on equity of 7.28%. The business had revenue of $603.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $636.30 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.91 earnings per share. Avista's revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Avista Corporation will post 2.3 EPS for the current year.

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.