Quantbot Technologies LP Has $1.50 Million Stake in Avista Corporation $AVA

Quantbot Technologies LP trimmed its stake in Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA) by 43.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 39,539 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 30,668 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP’s holdings in Avista were worth $1,495,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Avista by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,835,413 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $409,687,000 after purchasing an additional 170,388 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in Avista by 8.3% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,191,896 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $197,032,000 after buying an additional 398,446 shares in the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its position in Avista by 52.7% in the second quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 2,110,711 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $80,101,000 after buying an additional 728,543 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Avista by 2.4% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,958,034 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $74,316,000 after buying an additional 46,321 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Avista by 1.6% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,184,223 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $44,941,000 after buying an additional 18,216 shares in the last quarter. 85.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on AVA. KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Avista in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Avista from $41.00 to $39.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Mizuho set a $42.00 target price on Avista in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Weiss Ratings raised Avista from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Avista from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $39.33.

Avista Price Performance

Avista stock opened at $39.99 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.06. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The stock has a market cap of $3.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.28. Avista Corporation has a 12-month low of $35.50 and a 12-month high of $43.50.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Saturday, January 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter. Avista had a return on equity of 7.29% and a net margin of 9.83%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Avista Corporation will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Avista Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.4925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 25th. This represents a $1.97 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.9%. This is a boost from Avista’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. Avista’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Avista

In related news, SVP Wayne O. Manuel sold 1,785 shares of Avista stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.74, for a total transaction of $69,150.90. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 9,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $382,867.42. The trade was a 15.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Bryan Alden Cox sold 1,768 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.18, for a total value of $71,038.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 8,401 shares in the company, valued at $337,552.18. The trade was a 17.39% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Avista Profile

Avista Corporation operates as an integrated energy company providing electric and natural gas delivery services to residential, commercial and industrial customers in the Pacific Northwest. Through its regulated utility operations, the company maintains and upgrades an extensive transmission and distribution network, delivering reliable energy to approximately 400,000 electric customers and 324,000 natural gas customers across Washington, Oregon and Idaho. In addition to its core utility business, Avista invests in owned generation assets, including hydroelectric, natural gas–fired, coal and wind facilities, to support system reliability and long-term supply planning.

Founded in 1889 as the Spokane and Inland Empire Water Power Company, the business adopted the Avista name in 1999 to reflect its growing energy portfolio and strategic focus on innovation.