Brandes Investment Partners LP Has $2.66 Million Stake in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Brandes Investment Partners LP raised its holdings in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 11.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 77,344 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,051 shares during the quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP owned approximately 0.10% of Avista worth $2,662,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Avista during the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new position in shares of Avista during the first quarter worth approximately $32,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Avista during the second quarter worth approximately $40,000. Quarry LP grew its stake in shares of Avista by 67.9% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,179 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 477 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Avista in the first quarter valued at approximately $73,000. Institutional investors own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Avista

In other Avista news, VP David J. Meyer sold 2,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.32, for a total transaction of $91,968.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 5,436 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $208,307.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Avista Stock Performance

Avista stock opened at $38.75 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $38.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $36.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The company has a market cap of $3.05 billion, a PE ratio of 16.08, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.47. Avista Co. has a 1 year low of $30.53 and a 1 year high of $39.99.

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

Avista Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.90%. Avista’s dividend payout ratio is presently 78.84%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Bank of America started coverage on Avista in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $37.00 price objective on the 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.