GSA Capital Partners LLP Has $610,000 Stock Holdings in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

GSA Capital Partners LLP lowered its holdings in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA - Free Report) by 78.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,745 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 57,490 shares during the quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP's holdings in Avista were worth $610,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. bought a new stake in Avista during the 1st quarter worth about $220,000. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in Avista by 8.4% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 5,785 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $203,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Avista by 0.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,559,466 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $334,772,000 after acquiring an additional 33,431 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Avista during the 1st quarter valued at $264,000. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its position in shares of Avista by 7.0% during the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 69,708 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,441,000 after acquiring an additional 4,536 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.24% of the company's stock.

Avista Trading Up 0.3 %

Avista stock traded up $0.13 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $38.77. 490,796 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 518,629. Avista Co. has a fifty-two week low of $31.91 and a fifty-two week high of $39.99. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $37.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.43, a PEG ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05.

Avista (NYSE:AVA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.10. Avista had a net margin of 10.24% and a return on equity of 7.83%. The firm had revenue of $383.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $389.29 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.19 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Avista Co. will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.90%. Avista's dividend payout ratio is currently 75.70%.

Insider Transactions at Avista

In related news, VP David J. Meyer sold 2,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.32, for a total transaction of $91,968.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,436 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $208,307.52. This represents a 30.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Bank of America initiated coverage on Avista in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $37.00 target price on the stock.

Avista Company 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.