Naples Global Advisors LLC Has $826,000 Position in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Naples Global Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 5.1% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 23,873 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,275 shares during the quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC’s holdings in Avista were worth $826,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Avista in the 4th quarter valued at $935,000. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL grew its position in shares of Avista by 44.2% in the 1st quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 269,120 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,425,000 after purchasing an additional 82,500 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in Avista by 140.8% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 92,319 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,233,000 after purchasing an additional 53,983 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Avista by 109.6% during the 2nd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 34,015 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,177,000 after buying an additional 17,784 shares during the period. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Avista by 57.2% during the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 188,124 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,588,000 after buying an additional 68,441 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Avista news, SVP Bryan Alden Cox sold 1,716 shares of Avista stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.70, for a total value of $61,261.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,196 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $256,897.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Avista news, CEO Jason R. Thackston sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.98, for a total transaction of $92,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 32,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,202,071.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Bryan Alden Cox sold 1,716 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.70, for a total transaction of $61,261.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,196 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $256,897.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,916 shares of company stock valued at $215,268 over the last 90 days. 0.96% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Avista Stock Performance

AVA stock traded up $0.30 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $38.23. 279,417 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 540,938. Avista Co. has a 12 month low of $30.53 and a 12 month high of $39.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.86 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $36.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $35.43.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $390.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $386.69 million. Avista had a net margin of 10.12% and a return on equity of 7.77%. Avista’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.23 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Avista Co. will post 2.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avista Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be paid a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 22nd. Avista’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 78.84%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Avista from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 10th. Mizuho raised shares of Avista from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $32.00 to $36.00 in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $35.00.

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.