Comerica Bank Lowers Stake in Avista Corporation $AVA

Comerica Bank lowered its stake in shares of Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA) by 14.1% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 46,173 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 7,604 shares during the period. Comerica Bank’s holdings in Avista were worth $1,933,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Avista by 252.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 916 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 656 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Avista during the 1st quarter valued at $43,000. Costello Asset Management INC purchased a new stake in shares of Avista during the 1st quarter valued at $102,000. Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of Avista during the 1st quarter valued at $214,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Avista during the 1st quarter valued at $222,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

Avista Stock Performance

Avista stock opened at $36.43 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $37.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.78. 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 market cap of $2.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.41. Avista Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $34.80 and a fifty-two week high of $43.09.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.17 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $400.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $416.06 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.29 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Avista Corporation will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.49 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 19th. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.4%. Avista’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 88.29%.

Insider Activity at Avista

In related news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 1,024 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.82, for a total transaction of $38,727.68. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 11,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $435,497.30. This trade represents a 8.17% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

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.