MQS Management LLC Makes New $224,000 Investment in Avista Corporation $AVA

MQS Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 5,903 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $224,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in Avista in the second quarter valued at $34,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted 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 acquiring an additional 656 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Avista during the first quarter valued at $43,000. Costello Asset Management INC acquired a new position in shares of Avista during the first quarter valued at $102,000. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc lifted its stake in Avista by 23.2% in the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 3,523 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $134,000 after buying an additional 664 shares during the period. 85.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on AVA shares. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Avista from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Avista in a report on Monday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $38.00 price target for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Avista in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $39.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Bryan Alden Cox acquired 3,671 shares of Avista stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 16th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $35.55 per share, for a total transaction of $130,504.05. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 9,989 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $355,108.95. The trade was a 58.10% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 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 value of $50,196.24. Following the sale, the vice president owned 8,394 shares in the company, valued at $308,227.68. This represents a 14.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

Avista Price Performance

Avista stock opened at $39.00 on Tuesday. Avista Corporation has a one year low of $34.80 and a one year high of $43.09. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $37.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The firm has a market cap of $3.16 billion, a PE ratio of 17.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.39.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last issued its quarterly 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). Avista had a net margin of 9.13% and a return on equity of 6.86%. The business had revenue of $400.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $416.06 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.29 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Avista Corporation will post 2.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avista Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 19th were paid a $0.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 19th. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.0%. Avista’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 88.29%.

Avista 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.