SG Americas Securities LLC Has $1.31 Million Stake in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

SG Americas Securities LLC cut its holdings in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 23.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 35,875 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 11,243 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Avista were worth $1,314,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AVA. Algert Global LLC raised its position in shares of Avista by 202.2% in the third quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 57,617 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,233,000 after purchasing an additional 38,550 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Avista by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 420,527 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $16,295,000 after buying an additional 34,829 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Avista by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,828,230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $70,857,000 after acquiring an additional 27,328 shares during the period. A. D. Beadell Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new stake in Avista during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,340,000. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Avista during the second quarter worth approximately $5,638,000. Institutional investors own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Avista in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $40.00 price target for the company.

Avista Price Performance

Shares of Avista stock opened at $36.87 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.49. Avista Co. has a twelve month low of $31.91 and a twelve month high of $39.99. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $37.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.70.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.13 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $383.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $389.29 million. Avista had a net margin of 10.24% and a return on equity of 7.83%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.19 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Avista Co. will post 2.3 EPS for the current year.

Avista Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.15%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 26th. Avista’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 75.70%.

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.