Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. Cuts Holdings in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. cut its holdings in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 7.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 300,423 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 23,352 shares during the quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. owned 0.38% of Avista worth $11,641,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in shares of Avista in the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Avista in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Avista during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of Avista by 46.9% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,098 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $81,000 after acquiring an additional 670 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Avista by 256.6% in the 2nd quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 2,714 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $94,000 after acquiring an additional 1,953 shares during the period. 85.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Avista Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AVA traded up $0.06 on Thursday, hitting $38.60. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 348,283 shares, compared to its average volume of 567,726. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $37.99 and a 200-day moving average of $37.34. The company has a market capitalization of $3.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 0.47. Avista Co. has a 12-month low of $31.91 and a 12-month high of $39.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.48.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.10. The firm 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.19 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Avista Co. will post 2.36 EPS for the current year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.92%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. Avista’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.