Gabelli Funds LLC Lowers Stock Position in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Gabelli Funds LLC decreased its holdings in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 2.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 417,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 8,500 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC owned about 0.53% of Avista worth $14,450,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AVA. Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in shares of Avista by 348.4% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 89,908 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,112,000 after purchasing an additional 69,857 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its holdings in Avista by 23.7% in the second quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 14,891 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $515,000 after purchasing an additional 2,855 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Avista during the second quarter valued at about $462,000. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Avista in the 2nd quarter valued at about $276,000. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. grew its position in shares of Avista by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 10,031 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $347,000 after buying an additional 390 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP David J. Meyer sold 2,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.32, for a total transaction of $91,968.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,436 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $208,307.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Avista Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of AVA stock opened at $38.62 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $38.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $36.39. Avista Co. has a 1-year low of $30.53 and a 1-year high of $39.99. The company has a market cap of $3.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.60.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.07. Avista had a return on equity of 7.77% and a net margin of 10.12%. The business had revenue of $390.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $386.69 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.23 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Avista Co. will post 2.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.92%. Avista’s payout ratio is 78.84%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Avista in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $37.00 price objective for the company.

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.