Insider Selling: Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) VP Sells 1,024 Shares of Stock

Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA - Get Free Report) VP Scott J. Kinney sold 1,024 shares of the company'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 transaction of $38,727.68. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 11,515 shares of the company's stock, valued at $435,497.30. The trade was a 8.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Avista Stock Down 1.6%

Avista stock traded down $0.59 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $37.28. 592,940 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 608,850. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.75. The firm has a market cap of $3.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.85, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.41. The business has a fifty day moving average of $39.68 and a 200 day moving average of $38.49. Avista Co. has a 12-month low of $33.45 and a 12-month high of $43.09.

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

Avista Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th were issued a dividend of $0.49 per share. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.26%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 13th. Avista's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 83.76%.

Institutional Trading of Avista

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in Avista by 531.2% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,370,502 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $57,383,000 after purchasing an additional 1,153,389 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Avista in the 4th quarter valued at $27,139,000. Demars Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Avista during the fourth quarter worth about $21,047,000. Jane Street Group LLC increased its stake in Avista by 8,255.8% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 504,354 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $21,117,000 after buying an additional 498,318 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC acquired a new position in Avista in the 1st quarter valued at $19,645,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.24% of the company's stock.

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.