Guggenheim Capital LLC Sells 24,366 Shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Guggenheim Capital LLC lessened its stake in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA - Free Report) by 39.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 37,931 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 24,366 shares during the quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC's holdings in Avista were worth $1,389,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in AVA. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Avista by 3.3% during 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 during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 274,270 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Avista by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,253,280 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $45,908,000 after purchasing an additional 24,981 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Avista by 16.6% during 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. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Avista by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 1,019,177 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $37,332,000 after buying an additional 94,460 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.24% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Avista from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th.

Avista Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE:AVA traded down $0.11 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $41.15. 493,496 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 574,334. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.21. 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 one year low of $33.45 and a one year high of $43.09.

Avista (NYSE:AVA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.86 by ($0.02). Avista had a net margin of 10.24% and a return on equity of 7.83%. The firm had revenue of $517.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $487.48 million. Sell-side analysts expect that Avista Co. will post 2.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avista Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were given a dividend of $0.49 per share. This is an increase from Avista's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.76%. Avista's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 86.34%.

Insider Activity at Avista

In other Avista news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 2,298 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the vice president now owns 12,539 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $485,886.25. This trade represents a 15.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.96% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.