Naples Global Advisors LLC Sells 1,275 Shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Naples Global Advisors LLC lowered its position in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,873 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,275 shares during the quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC’s holdings in Avista were worth $826,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in Avista in the first quarter worth approximately $27,000. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Avista during the first quarter valued at $32,000. Quarry LP increased its stake in shares of Avista by 67.9% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,179 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 477 shares during the period. Strs Ohio raised its holdings in shares of Avista by 33.3% in the fourth quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 2,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $71,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Avista in the first quarter worth about $73,000. 85.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Avista from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 10th. Mizuho raised Avista from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $32.00 to $36.00 in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.00.

Insider Transactions at Avista

In other news, SVP Bryan Alden Cox sold 1,716 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.70, for a total value of $61,261.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,196 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $256,897.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Avista news, VP Latisha Diane Hill sold 1,700 shares of Avista stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.21, for a total transaction of $61,557.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 11,085 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $401,387.85. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Bryan Alden Cox sold 1,716 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.70, for a total transaction of $61,261.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,196 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $256,897.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,916 shares of company stock valued at $215,268 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Avista Stock Performance

AVA stock traded up $0.30 during trading on Friday, hitting $38.23. 279,417 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 540,938. Avista Co. has a 1 year low of $30.53 and a 1 year high of $39.99. The company has a market cap of $3.01 billion, a PE ratio of 15.86 and a beta of 0.46. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $36.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $35.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.60.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.07. Avista had a net margin of 10.12% and a return on equity of 7.77%. The company had revenue of $390.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $386.69 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.23 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Avista Co. will post 2.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be given a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.97%. Avista’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 78.84%.

About Avista

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.