Scotia Capital Inc. Sells 10,025 Shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Scotia Capital Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 37.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 16,923 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 10,025 shares during the period. Scotia Capital Inc.’s holdings in Avista were worth $620,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Headlands Technologies LLC lifted its holdings 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 valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 668 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in 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 buying an additional 464 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in Avista by 296.7% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 715 shares in the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 456 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew 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 acquiring an additional 518 shares in the last quarter. 85.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Activity at Avista

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

Avista Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AVA opened at $41.24 on Tuesday. 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 has a 50 day moving average price of $39.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.31 billion, a PE ratio of 16.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.38. Avista Co. has a 52 week low of $33.00 and a 52 week high of $43.09.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 10.24% and a return on equity of 7.83%. The company had revenue of $517.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $487.48 million. Analysts predict that Avista Co. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avista Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were issued a $0.49 dividend. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.75%. This is a boost from Avista’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 26th. Avista’s dividend payout ratio is presently 86.34%.

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.