Gamco Investors INC. ET AL Has $9.43 Million Holdings in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL lifted its holdings in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 44.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 269,120 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 82,500 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL owned approximately 0.34% of Avista worth $9,425,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Avista in the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Mather Group LLC. bought a new stake in Avista during the first quarter worth about $32,000. Quarry LP lifted its position in Avista by 67.9% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,179 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 477 shares during the period. Strs Ohio lifted its position in Avista by 33.3% during 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. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new stake in Avista during the first quarter worth about $73,000. 85.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho raised shares of Avista from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $32.00 to $36.00 in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Avista from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Avista presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $35.00.

Insider Activity at Avista

In related news, CEO Jason R. Thackston sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.98, for a total value of $92,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 32,506 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,202,071.88. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Jason R. Thackston sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.98, for a total value of $92,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 32,506 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,202,071.88. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Bryan Alden Cox sold 1,716 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.70, for a total transaction of $61,261.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,196 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $256,897.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,916 shares of company stock worth $215,268 in the last quarter. 0.96% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Avista Price Performance

Shares of AVA stock traded up $0.03 on Friday, reaching $39.35. The company had a trading volume of 484,280 shares, compared to its average volume of 495,399. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.08 billion, a PE ratio of 16.33 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. Avista Co. has a one year low of $30.53 and a one year high of $39.78. The business’s 50-day moving average is $35.70 and its 200 day moving average is $35.03.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $594.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $469.34 million. Avista had a return on equity of 7.65% and a net margin of 9.96%. The firm’s revenue was up 29.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.73 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Avista Co. will post 2.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avista Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd were issued a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.83%. Avista’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 78.84%.

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.