Point72 Asset Management L.P. Has $4.81 Million Position in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Point72 Asset Management L.P. lessened its holdings in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 23.8% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 124,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 38,700 shares during the quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P.’s holdings in Avista were worth $4,813,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVA. Millburn Ridgefield Corp acquired a new position in shares of Avista in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $178,000. NFJ Investment Group LLC acquired a new position in Avista during the third quarter worth $4,963,000. ClearAlpha Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Avista during the third quarter valued at $1,095,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Avista by 24.4% in the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 18,524 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $718,000 after purchasing an additional 3,633 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors bought a new stake in shares of Avista in the 3rd quarter worth about $229,000. Institutional investors own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Avista in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $37.00 target price for the company.

Avista Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE AVA opened at $37.25 on Monday. Avista Co. has a 1-year low of $31.91 and a 1-year high of $39.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The company has a 50-day moving average of $37.92 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.32. The company has a market cap of $2.95 billion, a PE ratio of 14.84, a P/E/G ratio of 4.18 and a beta of 0.48.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $383.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $389.29 million. Avista had a return on equity of 7.83% and a net margin of 10.24%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.19 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Avista Co. will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avista Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.10%. Avista’s dividend payout ratio is currently 75.70%.

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.