IFP Advisors Inc Buys 664 Shares of Avista Corporation $AVA

IFP Advisors Inc grew its stake in shares of Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA) by 23.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,523 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 664 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc’s holdings in Avista were worth $134,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Avista during the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Avista by 252.3% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 916 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 656 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in Avista during the first quarter worth about $43,000. Costello Asset Management INC bought a new stake in Avista during the first quarter worth about $102,000. Finally, Strs Ohio bought a new stake in Avista during the first quarter worth about $134,000. Institutional investors own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Avista

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Avista in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat, Avista has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $39.00.

Avista Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of Avista stock opened at $38.42 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 1.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.12 billion, a PE ratio of 17.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.39. Avista Corporation has a 52-week low of $34.80 and a 52-week high of $43.09. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $36.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.18.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $400.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $416.06 million. Avista had a return on equity of 6.86% and a net margin of 9.13%.During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.29 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Avista Corporation will post 2.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 19th were issued a $0.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 19th. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.1%. Avista’s payout ratio is 88.29%.

About Avista

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.