Moody Aldrich Partners LLC Boosts Holdings in Avista Corporation $AVA

Moody Aldrich Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA) by 24.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 145,336 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 28,545 shares during the quarter. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC owned about 0.18% of Avista worth $5,516,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Jane Street Group LLC increased its holdings in Avista by 8,255.8% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 504,354 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $21,117,000 after acquiring an additional 498,318 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its position in shares of Avista by 983.2% during the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 98,649 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,088,000 after purchasing an additional 89,542 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in shares of Avista by 48.5% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 35,188 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,473,000 after purchasing an additional 11,489 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Avista by 39.2% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 243,046 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,176,000 after purchasing an additional 68,394 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Avista in the first quarter worth about $790,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on AVA. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Avista to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. 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 report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Avista in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $39.50.

Avista Price Performance

Shares of Avista stock opened at $38.20 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.39. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average price of $37.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.09. Avista Corporation has a one year low of $34.80 and a one year high of $43.09.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $400.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $416.06 million. Avista had a return on equity of 6.86% and a net margin of 9.13%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.29 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Avista Corporation will post 2.3 EPS for the current year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 19th were paid a dividend of $0.49 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 19th. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.1%. Avista’s payout ratio is currently 88.29%.

Insider Activity

In other Avista news, VP David J. Meyer sold 1,367 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 8,394 shares in the company, valued at $308,227.68. The trade was a 14.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Bryan Alden Cox purchased 3,671 shares of Avista stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 16th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $35.55 per share, for a total transaction of $130,504.05. Following the completion of the acquisition, the senior vice president owned 9,989 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $355,108.95. This trade represents a 58.10% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

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.