Jane Street Group LLC Sells 45,582 Shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Jane Street Group LLC cut its holdings in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA - Free Report) by 34.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 88,246 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 45,582 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC owned 0.11% of Avista worth $3,420,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in Avista in the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Avista in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in Avista during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $40,000. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in Avista by 46.9% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,098 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $81,000 after purchasing an additional 670 shares during the period. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC increased its stake in Avista by 256.6% in the second quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 2,714 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $94,000 after purchasing an additional 1,953 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.24% of the company's stock.

Avista Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:AVA traded up $0.33 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $36.19. 1,667,150 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 521,669. The firm has a market cap of $2.87 billion, a PE ratio of 14.42, a P/E/G ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.48. 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 Co. has a fifty-two week low of $31.91 and a fifty-two week high of $39.99. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $37.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.31.

Avista (NYSE:AVA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.13 by $0.10. Avista had a return on equity of 7.83% and a net margin of 10.24%. The company had revenue of $383.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $389.29 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.19 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Avista Co. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Avista Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were given a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.25%. Avista's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 75.70%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on AVA shares. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Avista in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $37.00 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Avista in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $40.00 target price for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $36.75.

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.