Hsbc Holdings PLC Has $333,000 Stake in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Hsbc Holdings PLC cut its stake in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 27.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,107 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 3,449 shares during the quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC’s holdings in Avista were worth $333,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Headlands Technologies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Avista by 2,474.1% in the fourth quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 695 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 668 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake 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 valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 464 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in shares of Avista by 296.7% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 715 shares during the period. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Avista by 45.3% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,462 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 456 shares during the period. Finally, Eastern Bank raised its stake in Avista by 309.3% during the fourth quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 1,842 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 1,392 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Transactions at Avista

In related news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 2,298 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.75, for a total value of $89,047.50. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 12,539 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $485,886.25. This trade represents a 15.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.96% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Avista Price Performance

Avista stock opened at $40.49 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.13, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42. Avista Co. has a 52-week low of $33.45 and a 52-week high of $43.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.75. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $40.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.42.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.07). Avista had a return on equity of 7.83% and a net margin of 10.24%. The company had revenue of $603.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $636.30 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.91 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Avista Co. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Avista Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.49 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.84%. Avista’s dividend payout ratio is 86.34%.

About Avista

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.