SG Americas Securities LLC Has $1.31 Million Stock Holdings in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

SG Americas Securities LLC cut its holdings in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 23.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 35,875 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 11,243 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Avista were worth $1,314,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Algert Global LLC raised its holdings in shares of Avista by 202.2% during the 3rd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 57,617 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,233,000 after buying an additional 38,550 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Avista by 9.0% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 420,527 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $16,295,000 after acquiring an additional 34,829 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Avista by 1.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,828,230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $70,857,000 after acquiring an additional 27,328 shares during the last quarter. A. D. Beadell Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Avista in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,340,000. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Avista during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $5,638,000. 85.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Avista Stock Performance

NYSE:AVA opened at $36.87 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $37.03 and its 200-day moving average is $37.70. Avista Co. has a 1-year low of $31.91 and a 1-year high of $39.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The stock has a market cap of $2.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.49.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.13 by $0.10. The firm 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.19 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Avista Co. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.15%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 26th. Avista’s payout ratio is presently 75.70%.

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.