Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC Buys 4,847 Shares of Avista Corporation $AVA

Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC boosted its stake in Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA) by 8.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 59,730 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,847 shares during the quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC’s holdings in Avista were worth $2,267,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Avista in the 2nd quarter worth $34,000. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in Avista by 54.8% in the second quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 884 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 313 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in Avista in the first quarter valued at $43,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Avista by 48.5% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,360 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 444 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP raised its position in Avista by 51.7% during the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,585 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 540 shares in the last quarter. 85.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Avista Price Performance

Shares of Avista stock opened at $41.06 on Tuesday. 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 Corporation has a one year low of $34.80 and a one year high of $43.09. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $38.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.39.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.09. Avista had a net margin of 9.13% and a return on equity of 6.86%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.23 EPS. Avista’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Avista has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.520-2.720 EPS. Analysts forecast that Avista Corporation will post 2.3 EPS for the current year.

Avista Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 24th will be given a $0.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 24th. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.8%. Avista’s payout ratio is presently 83.40%.

Insider Activity

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on AVA shares. Mizuho set a $42.00 price objective on Avista in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Avista in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Avista to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Avista from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $40.33.

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.