Everence Capital Management Inc. Sells 3,470 Shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Everence Capital Management Inc. cut its holdings in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 21.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 12,550 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 3,470 shares during the quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Avista were worth $449,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Avista by 178.0% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,540 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 986 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio raised its holdings in Avista by 33.3% in the fourth quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 2,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Belpointe Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Avista by 21.1% in the first quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 2,002 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $85,000 after purchasing an additional 349 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in Avista by 41,325.0% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 3,314 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $107,000 after purchasing an additional 3,306 shares during the period. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its holdings in Avista by 148.7% in the second quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 2,746 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $108,000 after purchasing an additional 1,642 shares during the period. 85.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Avista Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE:AVA opened at $33.73 on Thursday. Avista Co. has a 12 month low of $30.53 and a 12 month high of $44.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $33.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $34.06. The firm has a market cap of $2.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.13 and a beta of 0.50.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 21st. The utilities provider reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by ($0.06). Avista had a return on equity of 7.07% and a net margin of 9.77%. The company had revenue of $504.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $545.78 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.05 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Avista Co. will post 2.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avista Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were paid a $0.475 dividend. This is a positive change from Avista’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.63%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. Avista’s payout ratio is presently 85.20%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on AVA. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Avista from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 24th. Guggenheim upgraded shares of Avista from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $34.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, January 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Avista currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $33.50.

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.