22,238 Shares in Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA) Purchased by Aigen Investment Management LP

Aigen Investment Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 22,238 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $931,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 656 shares during the period. Costello Asset Management INC acquired a new position in Avista during the 1st quarter valued at about $102,000. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new position in Avista during the 1st quarter valued at about $214,000. Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new position in Avista during the 4th quarter valued at about $215,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC acquired a new position in Avista during the 1st quarter valued at about $222,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

Avista Stock Performance

Avista stock opened at $37.38 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. Avista Corporation has a 1 year low of $34.80 and a 1 year high of $43.09. The company has a market cap of $3.03 billion, a PE ratio of 16.84, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.40. The company’s 50-day moving average is $37.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.75.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.11). Avista had a net margin of 9.13% and a return on equity of 6.86%. The business had revenue of $400.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $416.06 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.29 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Avista Corporation will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 19th will be paid a $0.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 19th. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.2%. Avista’s dividend payout ratio is 88.29%.

Insider Activity at Avista

In other news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 1,024 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.82, for a total value of $38,727.68. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 11,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $435,497.30. This represents a 8.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.