Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC Invests $313,000 in Avista Corporation $AVA

Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 8,255 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $313,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AVA. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Avista by 252.3% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 916 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 656 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its position in shares of Avista by 9.7% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 17,649 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $739,000 after purchasing an additional 1,561 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Avista by 8.9% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 5,958 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $249,000 after purchasing an additional 486 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont boosted its position in shares of Avista by 7.9% in the 1st quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 5,494 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $230,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new stake in shares of Avista in the 1st quarter worth approximately $790,000. 85.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Avista Price Performance

Shares of AVA opened at $39.14 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.17 billion, a PE ratio of 17.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $37.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.13. Avista Corporation has a 1-year low of $34.80 and a 1-year high of $43.09.

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

Avista Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 19th were paid a dividend of $0.49 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 19th. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.0%. Avista’s payout ratio is currently 88.29%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AVA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Avista from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Avista in a report on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, Avista has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $41.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Avista news, VP David J. Meyer sold 1,367 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.72, for a total transaction of $50,196.24. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 8,394 shares in the company, valued at approximately $308,227.68. The trade was a 14.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Bryan Alden Cox bought 3,671 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 16th. The shares were bought at an average price of $35.55 per share, with a total value of $130,504.05. Following the completion of the purchase, the senior vice president owned 9,989 shares in the company, valued at approximately $355,108.95. The trade was a 58.10% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by 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.