Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) Shares Sold by Tower Research Capital LLC TRC

Tower Research Capital LLC TRC trimmed its stake in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA – Get Rating) by 67.1% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 7,645 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 15,566 shares during the quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC’s holdings in Avista were worth $284,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Avista by 178.0% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,540 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 986 shares during the last quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Avista during the 2nd quarter valued at about $83,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Avista by 22.2% in the second quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,281 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $99,000 after acquiring an additional 415 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in shares of Avista by 83.0% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,492 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $113,000 after acquiring an additional 1,130 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Avista by 15.5% in the second quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,476 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $150,000 after acquiring an additional 466 shares during the last quarter. 82.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Avista news, VP Bryan Alden Cox sold 2,542 shares of Avista stock in a transaction on Friday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.30, for a total value of $104,984.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 4,698 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $194,027.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.94% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on AVA. TheStreet raised shares of Avista from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 22nd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Avista from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 8th. Finally, Mizuho lowered shares of Avista from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $45.00 to $38.00 in a report on Thursday, February 9th.

Avista Trading Up 1.6 %

AVA opened at $41.25 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.46, a P/E/G ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.49. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $41.86 and its 200-day moving average is $40.85. Avista Co. has a 52-week low of $35.72 and a 52-week high of $46.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00.

Avista (NYSE:AVA – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 22nd. The utilities provider reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $496.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $371.59 million. Avista had a net margin of 9.14% and a return on equity of 6.87%. The business’s revenue was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.71 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Avista Co. will post 2.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avista Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 17th will be issued a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 16th. This is an increase from Avista’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. Avista’s payout ratio is currently 86.79%.

Avista Company Profile

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Avista Corp. is a holding company, which engages in the provision of electric and natural gas utility business. It operates through the Avista Utilities, and Alaska Electric Light and Power Company (AEL&P) segments. The Avista Utilities segment includes electric distribution and transmission, and natural gas distribution services in parts of eastern Washington, Northern Idaho, and Northeastern and Southwestern Oregon.