JPMorgan Chase & Co. Trims Stake in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered its position in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA - Free Report) by 14.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 333,737 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 55,065 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned about 0.42% of Avista worth $12,932,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVA. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Avista by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 21,888 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $758,000 after acquiring an additional 626 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in Avista during the 2nd quarter valued at about $40,000. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp increased its holdings in Avista by 5.2% during the 2nd quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 71,250 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,466,000 after purchasing an additional 3,538 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC increased its holdings in Avista by 256.6% during the 2nd 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 during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Avista by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 236,954 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $8,201,000 after purchasing an additional 8,748 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.24% of the company's stock.

Avista Stock Down 3.5 %

AVA stock traded down $1.27 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $35.27. The company's stock had a trading volume of 543,727 shares, compared to its average volume of 549,138. The company has a market cap of $2.79 billion, a PE ratio of 14.05, a P/E/G ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.49. Avista Co. has a 12 month low of $31.91 and a 12 month high of $39.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The firm's 50-day moving average is $37.20 and its 200-day moving average is $37.53.

Avista (NYSE:AVA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $383.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $389.29 million. Avista had a return on equity of 7.83% and a net margin of 10.24%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.19 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Avista Co. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avista Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were paid a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.39%. Avista's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 75.70%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Avista in a report on Monday, December 9th. They set a "hold" rating and a $40.00 price target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $36.75.

Avista 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.