Natixis Advisors LLC Buys 1,447 Shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 5.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,135 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,447 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Avista were worth $1,008,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AVA. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Avista in the 4th quarter worth approximately $18,988,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Avista by 95.4% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 709,707 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,365,000 after purchasing an additional 346,540 shares in the last quarter. Peregrine Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Avista in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,506,000. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Avista by 10.1% in the 1st quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 1,904,651 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $66,701,000 after purchasing an additional 174,951 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invenomic Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Avista in the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,960,000. 85.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Avista Stock Performance

Shares of AVA opened at $37.80 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $37.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $36.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. Avista Co. has a 12 month low of $30.53 and a 12 month high of $39.99. The company has a market cap of $2.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.68 and a beta of 0.47.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $386.69 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.23 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Avista Co. will post 2.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.03%. Avista’s dividend payout ratio is 78.84%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Avista

In other Avista news, VP David J. Meyer sold 2,400 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,436 shares in the company, valued at approximately $208,307.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company’s 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.