Versor Investments LP Sells 19,626 Shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Posted by on Apr 15th, 2023

Versor Investments LP decreased its holdings in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA – Get Rating) by 67.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 9,593 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 19,626 shares during the quarter. Versor Investments LP’s holdings in Avista were worth $425,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Avista by 377.0% during the third quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 830 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 656 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted 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 valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 986 shares during the period. Romano Brothers AND Company bought a new position in Avista in the fourth quarter worth approximately $78,000. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in Avista by 83.0% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,492 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $113,000 after purchasing an additional 1,130 shares during the period. Finally, Accurate Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Avista during the 4th quarter valued at $112,000. Institutional investors own 82.92% of the company’s stock.

Avista Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE:AVA opened at $43.24 on Friday. Avista Co. has a 12-month low of $35.72 and a 12-month high of $45.45. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $41.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.91. The company has a market capitalization of $3.10 billion, a PE ratio of 20.40, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00.

Avista (NYSE:AVA – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 22nd. The utilities provider reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.33. Avista had a return on equity of 6.87% and a net margin of 9.14%. The business had revenue of $496.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $371.59 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.71 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Avista Co. will post 2.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avista Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 17th were issued a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 16th. This is an increase from Avista’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.26%. Avista’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 86.79%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AVA. Mizuho downgraded Avista from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $45.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 9th. TheStreet raised shares of Avista from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Avista in a research report on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a “sell” rating for the company.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Bryan Alden Cox sold 2,542 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.30, for a total value of $104,984.60. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 4,698 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $194,027.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Avista 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.

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Avista (NYSE:AVA)

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