Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. Sells 3,729 Shares of Avista Corporation $AVA

Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA) by 9.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 37,071 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 3,729 shares during the quarter. Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc.’s holdings in Avista were worth $1,407,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Avista during the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Avista by 252.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 916 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 656 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Avista in the first quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Costello Asset Management INC bought a new stake in shares of Avista during the first quarter worth $102,000. Finally, Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of Avista during the first quarter worth $134,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Bryan Alden Cox acquired 3,671 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 16th. The stock was acquired at an average price 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 approximately $355,108.95. This trade represents a 58.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP David J. Meyer sold 1,367 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 5th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $308,227.68. The trade was a 14.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.96% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Avista Stock Up 0.9%

NYSE AVA opened at $39.14 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $37.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.17 billion, a PE ratio of 17.63, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.39. Avista Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $34.80 and a fifty-two week high of $43.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.68.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.11). Avista had a return on equity of 6.86% and a net margin of 9.13%.The business had revenue of $400.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $416.06 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.29 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Avista Corporation will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 19th were issued a dividend of $0.49 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 19th. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.0%. Avista’s payout ratio is 88.29%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on AVA shares. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Avista from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Avista in a research report on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $41.00.

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.