SG Americas Securities LLC Trims Stock Position in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

SG Americas Securities LLC lessened its stake in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA - Free Report) by 23.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 35,875 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 11,243 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC's holdings in Avista were worth $1,314,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Avista by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 96,959 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,552,000 after purchasing an additional 13,431 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC purchased a new position in Avista in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,761,000. Hennessy Advisors Inc. raised its position in Avista by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 25,772 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $944,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of Avista by 18.3% during the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 16,199 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $593,000 after purchasing an additional 2,504 shares during the period. Finally, San Luis Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Avista in the 4th quarter valued at about $685,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.24% of the company's stock.

Avista Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE AVA traded up $0.08 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $36.61. The company's stock had a trading volume of 219,331 shares, compared to its average volume of 443,409. Avista Co. has a 1 year low of $31.91 and a 1 year high of $39.99. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $36.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.48.

Avista (NYSE:AVA - Get Free Report) last announced 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. Avista had a return on equity of 7.83% and a net margin of 10.24%. The business had revenue of $383.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $389.29 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.19 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Avista Co. will post 2.3 EPS for the current year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th were paid a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.19%. Avista's dividend payout ratio is currently 75.70%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Avista from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday.

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.