Kennedy Capital Management LLC Reduces Position in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Kennedy Capital Management LLC lowered its position in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA - Free Report) by 3.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 386,128 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 14,005 shares during the period. Kennedy Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.49% of Avista worth $14,144,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Avista by 2,474.1% in the 4th quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 695 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 668 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Avista by 117.8% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 858 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 464 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP grew its position in Avista by 296.7% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 956 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 715 shares during the period. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Avista by 45.3% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,462 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 456 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Avista by 43.0% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,723 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 518 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.24% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 2,298 shares of Avista stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.75, for a total value of $89,047.50. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 12,539 shares of the company's stock, valued at $485,886.25. The trade was a 15.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company's stock.

Avista Price Performance

Shares of Avista stock traded up $0.53 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $41.82. The stock had a trading volume of 131,582 shares, compared to its average volume of 565,822. The stock's 50 day moving average is $39.31 and its 200 day moving average is $37.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. Avista Co. has a twelve month low of $33.00 and a twelve month high of $43.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.36 billion, a PE ratio of 16.66, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.38.

Avista (NYSE:AVA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.84 earnings per share (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 analysts' expectations of $487.48 million. Avista had a return on equity of 7.83% and a net margin of 10.24%. Equities analysts expect that Avista Co. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avista Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were given a dividend of $0.49 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 26th. This is a boost from Avista's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.69%. Avista's dividend payout ratio is currently 86.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.