Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) VP Scott J. Kinney Sells 2,298 Shares

Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) VP Scott J. Kinney sold 2,298 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.75, for a total transaction of $89,047.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 12,539 shares in the company, valued at approximately $485,886.25. This trade represents a 15.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Avista Price Performance

Shares of AVA stock opened at $39.73 on Friday. Avista Co. has a 1 year low of $33.00 and a 1 year high of $40.21. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $37.20 and its 200-day moving average is $37.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.83, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by ($0.02). Avista had a return on equity of 7.83% and a net margin of 10.24%. The company had revenue of $517.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $487.48 million. Sell-side analysts forecast that Avista Co. will post 2.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avista Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.49 per share. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.93%. This is an increase from Avista’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 26th. Avista’s payout ratio is 86.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Avista from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Avista

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Avista by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 38,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,403,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Avista by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 22,842 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $837,000 after buying an additional 328 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Avista by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 7,814 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $286,000 after buying an additional 351 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of Avista by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 137,767 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,046,000 after buying an additional 359 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Avista by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 25,772 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $944,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. 85.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.