Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. Sells 427 Shares of Avista Corporation $AVA

Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. trimmed its holdings in Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA) by 5.9% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 6,757 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 427 shares during the quarter. Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Avista were worth $256,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Avista by 1.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,360,222 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $433,782,000 after buying an additional 99,365 shares during the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lifted its position in Avista by 8.1% during the 1st quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 1,382,168 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $57,871,000 after purchasing an additional 103,844 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in Avista by 531.2% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,370,502 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $57,383,000 after purchasing an additional 1,153,389 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Avista by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,266,825 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $53,042,000 after purchasing an additional 13,545 shares during the period. Finally, Demars Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Avista by 18.8% during the 1st quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC now owns 682,659 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,583,000 after purchasing an additional 108,072 shares during the period. 85.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Avista Stock Performance

Avista stock opened at $36.69 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. Avista Corporation has a 1 year low of $34.80 and a 1 year high of $43.09. The company has a market cap of $2.98 billion, a PE ratio of 16.52, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.39. The company’s 50-day moving average is $36.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.42.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.11). Avista had a net margin of 9.13% and a return on equity of 6.86%. The business had revenue of $400.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $416.06 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.29 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Avista Corporation will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 19th were given a dividend of $0.49 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 19th. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.3%. Avista’s dividend payout ratio is presently 88.29%.

Insider Transactions at Avista

In related news, SVP Bryan Alden Cox purchased 3,671 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 16th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $35.55 per share, with a total value of $130,504.05. Following the purchase, the senior vice president directly owned 9,989 shares in the company, valued at $355,108.95. The trade was a 58.10% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP David J. Meyer sold 1,367 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.72, for a total value of $50,196.24. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 8,394 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $308,227.68. This trade represents a 14.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

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.