Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) Shares Sold by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lessened its holdings in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 3.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 65,042 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,210 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned about 0.08% of Avista worth $2,251,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL grew its position in Avista by 44.2% in the 1st quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 269,120 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,425,000 after buying an additional 82,500 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in shares of Avista by 140.8% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 92,319 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,233,000 after acquiring an additional 53,983 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Avista by 109.6% during the second quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 34,015 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,177,000 after purchasing an additional 17,784 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Avista by 57.2% in the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 188,124 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,588,000 after purchasing an additional 68,441 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in Avista by 383.0% in the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 27,941 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $967,000 after purchasing an additional 22,156 shares during the period. 85.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Avista Stock Down 0.2 %

NYSE AVA opened at $38.66 on Wednesday. Avista Co. has a 12 month low of $30.53 and a 12 month high of $39.99. The company has a market capitalization of $3.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.04, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.47. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $38.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.54. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $390.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $386.69 million. Avista had a return on equity of 7.77% and a net margin of 10.12%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.23 earnings per share. Equities 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. Investors of record on Thursday, August 22nd were paid a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.91%. Avista’s dividend payout ratio is currently 78.84%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

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.