Aigen Investment Management LP Takes Position in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Aigen Investment Management LP acquired a new position in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 8,629 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $334,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of AVA. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. purchased a new position in Avista in the first quarter worth about $220,000. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in Avista by 8.4% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 5,785 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $203,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank boosted its position in Avista by 1.3% in the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 152,700 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,348,000 after purchasing an additional 1,900 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Avista in the first quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Avista by 0.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,559,466 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $334,772,000 after purchasing an additional 33,431 shares during the last quarter. 85.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Bank of America assumed 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.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP David J. Meyer sold 2,400 shares of Avista stock in a transaction that occurred 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. This trade represents a 30.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Avista Stock Up 1.5 %

AVA stock opened at $37.74 on Friday. Avista Co. has a twelve month low of $31.91 and a twelve month high of $39.99. 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 cap of $2.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.04, a PEG ratio of 4.07 and a beta of 0.47. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $37.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $37.25.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Avista had a return on equity of 7.83% and a net margin of 10.24%. The firm had revenue of $383.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $389.29 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.19 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Avista Co. will post 2.36 EPS for the current year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be given a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.03%. Avista’s payout ratio 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.