Neuberger Berman Group LLC Takes $269,000 Position in Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA)

Neuberger Berman Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 6,434 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $269,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Avista by 252.3% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 916 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 656 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Avista during the first quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Costello Asset Management INC purchased a new stake in shares of Avista during the first quarter valued at approximately $102,000. Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of Avista during the first quarter valued at approximately $214,000. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Avista during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $215,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

Avista Stock Performance

NYSE:AVA opened at $37.28 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.02 billion, a PE ratio of 16.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.40. 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 quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 1.00. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $37.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.76.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $416.06 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.29 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Avista Corporation will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Avista Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 19th will be paid a $0.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 19th. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.3%. Avista’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 88.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 1,024 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.82, for a total value of $38,727.68. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 11,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $435,497.30. This trade represents a 8.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.96% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.