Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Has $437,000 Holdings in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd reduced its holdings in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 28.1% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 11,284 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 4,419 shares during the quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd’s holdings in Avista were worth $437,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in shares of Avista during the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Avista during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in Avista in the 2nd quarter valued at $40,000. KBC Group NV increased its position in Avista by 46.9% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,098 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $81,000 after buying an additional 670 shares during the period. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC increased its position in Avista by 256.6% during the 2nd quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 2,714 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $94,000 after buying an additional 1,953 shares during the period. 85.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Avista Stock Down 0.5 %

AVA stock opened at $36.53 on Tuesday. Avista Co. has a 52 week low of $31.91 and a 52 week high of $39.99. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $37.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $37.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The company has a market cap of $2.89 billion, a PE ratio of 14.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.48.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $383.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $389.29 million. Avista had a net margin of 10.24% and a return on equity of 7.83%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.19 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Avista Co. will post 2.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were issued a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.20%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 26th. Avista’s dividend payout ratio is presently 75.70%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on AVA shares. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Avista in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $40.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Avista in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $37.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $36.75.

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.