Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) Shares Sold by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans cut its position in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 67,023 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 602 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned 0.08% of Avista worth $2,455,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Avista by 117.8% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 858 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 464 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP grew its position in shares of Avista by 296.7% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 715 shares during the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Avista by 45.3% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,462 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 456 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Avista by 43.0% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,723 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 518 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eastern Bank raised its position in shares of Avista by 309.3% during the 4th quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 1,842 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 1,392 shares during the last quarter. 85.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Avista from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th.

Avista Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AVA opened at $40.04 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $38.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The company has a market cap of $3.21 billion, a PE ratio of 15.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.46. Avista Co. has a 12 month low of $33.00 and a 12 month high of $40.23.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.86 by ($0.02). Avista had a return on equity of 7.83% and a net margin of 10.24%. The firm had revenue of $517.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $487.48 million. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Avista Co. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Avista Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were paid a $0.49 dividend. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.90%. This is a positive change from Avista’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 26th. Avista’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 86.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Avista

In other Avista news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 2,298 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.75, for a total transaction of $89,047.50. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 12,539 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $485,886.25. This trade represents a 15.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.96% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.