Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 52.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,196 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 15,639 shares during the quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Avista were worth $550,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in Avista by 46.9% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,098 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $81,000 after buying an additional 670 shares in the last quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Avista during the third quarter valued at approximately $334,000. Versor Investments LP boosted its stake in shares of Avista by 95.8% during the third quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 74,599 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,891,000 after purchasing an additional 36,494 shares during the period. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in shares of Avista during the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Avista during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 value of $91,968.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 5,436 shares in the company, valued at approximately $208,307.52. This represents a 30.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.96% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Avista Price Performance

Shares of Avista stock opened at $37.75 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $37.92 and a 200 day moving average of $37.26. 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 company has a market cap of $2.99 billion, a PE ratio of 15.04, a P/E/G ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.47. Avista Co. has a 52 week low of $31.91 and a 52 week high of $39.99.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.13 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $383.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $389.29 million. Avista had a return on equity of 7.83% and a net margin of 10.24%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.19 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Avista Co. will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Avista Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be issued a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.03%. Avista’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 75.70%.

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.