Insider Selling: Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) VP Sells 2,298 Shares of Stock

Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA - Get Free Report) VP Scott J. Kinney sold 2,298 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.75, for a total transaction of $89,047.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 12,539 shares in the company, valued at approximately $485,886.25. This represents a 15.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Avista Price Performance

Shares of AVA traded up $0.15 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $39.85. The stock had a trading volume of 750,121 shares, compared to its average volume of 555,565. The firm has a market cap of $3.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.87, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.46. Avista Co. has a 12 month low of $33.00 and a 12 month high of $40.23. The business has a fifty day moving average of $37.20 and a 200 day moving average of $37.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.75.

Avista (NYSE:AVA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.86 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $517.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $487.48 million. Avista had a net margin of 10.24% and a return on equity of 7.83%. Equities analysts predict that Avista Co. will post 2.3 EPS for the current year.

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Avista Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.49 per share. This is a positive change from Avista's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.92%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 26th. Avista's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 86.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Avista from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Avista

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its stake in Avista by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 6,330 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $245,000 after purchasing an additional 428 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE increased its holdings in shares of Avista by 75.2% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 14,775 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $573,000 after purchasing an additional 6,344 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Avista by 16.3% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 8,706 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $337,000 after buying an additional 1,218 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in Avista by 7.3% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 21,518 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $828,000 after buying an additional 1,464 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Avista by 9.0% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 420,527 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $16,295,000 after buying an additional 34,829 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.24% of the company's 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.