Insider Selling: Avista (NYSE:AVA) VP Sells $174,097.00 in Stock

Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA) VP Joshua Diluciano sold 4,675 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.24, for a total transaction of $174,097.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 8,334 shares in the company, valued at $310,358.16. This represents a 35.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Avista Trading Down 0.5%

NYSE AVA opened at $37.46 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.25. Avista Corporation has a twelve month low of $35.50 and a twelve month high of $43.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. The business’s fifty day moving average is $39.85 and its 200 day moving average is $40.51.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.20. Avista had a return on equity of 7.85% and a net margin of 11.83%.The firm had revenue of $413.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $426.93 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.17 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Avista Corporation will post 2.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.4925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 18th. This represents a $1.97 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.3%. Avista’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.12%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Avista in the second quarter worth $605,448,000. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Avista by 3,930.1% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 3,841,735 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $157,165,000 after purchasing an additional 3,746,408 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Avista during the 2nd quarter worth about $37,919,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Avista by 105.1% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,137,236 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $43,829,000 after buying an additional 582,742 shares during the period. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in Avista by 37,219.7% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 541,136 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $20,855,000 after buying an additional 539,686 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AVA has been the subject of several analyst reports. Zacks Research raised Avista from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Barclays cut their price objective on Avista from $40.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Avista from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $39.25.

Avista Company Profile

Avista Corporation operates as an integrated energy company providing electric and natural gas delivery services to residential, commercial and industrial customers in the Pacific Northwest. Through its regulated utility operations, the company maintains and upgrades an extensive transmission and distribution network, delivering reliable energy to approximately 400,000 electric customers and 324,000 natural gas customers across Washington, Oregon and Idaho. In addition to its core utility business, Avista invests in owned generation assets, including hydroelectric, natural gas–fired, coal and wind facilities, to support system reliability and long-term supply planning.

Founded in 1889 as the Spokane and Inland Empire Water Power Company, the business adopted the Avista name in 1999 to reflect its growing energy portfolio and strategic focus on innovation.