ProShare Advisors LLC Sells 37,684 Shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

ProShare Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 15.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 200,910 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 37,684 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.26% of Avista worth $6,953,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVA. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Avista during the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Mather Group LLC. bought a new stake in shares of Avista during the first quarter worth $32,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Avista during the second quarter valued at $40,000. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in Avista by 67.9% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,179 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 477 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Avista in the first quarter worth about $73,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP David J. Meyer sold 2,400 shares of the firm’s 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 owns 5,436 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $208,307.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.96% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Avista Stock Down 1.0 %

NYSE:AVA opened at $38.23 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $38.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $36.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.86, a P/E/G ratio of 3.34 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 12-month low of $30.53 and a 12-month high of $39.99.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last posted 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 company had revenue of $390.80 million during 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%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.23 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Avista Co. will post 2.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd were given 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 4.97%. Avista’s dividend payout ratio is 78.84%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Avista 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.