Exchange Traded Concepts LLC Trims Stock Position in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lessened its position in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 58.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 18,993 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 26,780 shares during the quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC’s holdings in Avista were worth $736,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AVA. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Avista in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new stake in Avista in the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Avista in the second quarter valued at approximately $40,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Avista in the first quarter valued at approximately $73,000. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management purchased a new stake in Avista in the second quarter valued at approximately $154,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

Avista Stock Performance

NYSE:AVA opened at $37.98 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $38.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.87. The company has a market cap of $2.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. Avista Co. has a 52 week low of $31.09 and a 52 week high of $39.99.

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

Avista Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Investors 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 dividend yield of 5.00%. Avista’s payout ratio is currently 76.92%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 5,436 shares in the company, valued at approximately $208,307.52. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Bank of America began coverage on Avista in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $37.00 target price 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.