World Investment Advisors LLC Sells 793 Shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

World Investment Advisors LLC lowered its position in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 10.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,795 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 793 shares during the quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Avista were worth $263,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVA. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. acquired 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 valued at $29,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in Avista in the 2nd quarter valued at $40,000. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in Avista by 46.9% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,098 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $81,000 after purchasing an additional 670 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Avista by 256.6% during the second quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 2,714 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $94,000 after purchasing an additional 1,953 shares during the last quarter. 85.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Avista Price Performance

Avista stock opened at $35.46 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $37.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.32. 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 stock has a market cap of $2.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.13, a P/E/G ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.48. Avista Co. has a 12-month low of $31.91 and a 12-month high of $39.99.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $383.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $389.29 million. Avista had a net margin of 10.24% and a return on equity of 7.83%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.19 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Avista Co. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Avista Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were given a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 26th. Avista’s payout ratio is 75.70%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AVA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America began coverage on Avista in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $37.00 price target for the company. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Avista in a research report on Monday, December 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $40.00 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $36.75.

Avista Company 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.