Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Sells 343,103 Shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. decreased its stake in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 91.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 31,104 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 343,103 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Avista were worth $1,139,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its position in Avista by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 6,330 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $245,000 after buying an additional 428 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Avista by 43.0% during the fourth 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. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of Avista by 46.9% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,098 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $81,000 after acquiring an additional 670 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Avista by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 17,430 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $675,000 after purchasing an additional 707 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. bought a new position in shares of Avista during the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Avista in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $40.00 price target for the company.

Avista Stock Performance

Shares of AVA stock opened at $36.00 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.34, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.49. Avista Co. has a fifty-two week low of $31.91 and a fifty-two week high of $39.99. 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 $37.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $37.65.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.13 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $383.70 million during 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 firm’s revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.19 EPS. Analysts expect that Avista Co. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th were paid a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.28%. Avista’s payout ratio is presently 75.70%.

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.