Moody Aldrich Partners LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Avista Corporation $AVA

Moody Aldrich Partners LLC grew its stake in Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA) by 24.4% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 145,336 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 28,545 shares during the quarter. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC’s holdings in Avista were worth $5,516,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Convergence Investment Partners LLC raised its position in Avista by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Convergence Investment Partners LLC now owns 49,613 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,883,000 after purchasing an additional 286 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. increased its stake in shares of Avista by 5.5% during the first quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 5,934 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $248,000 after buying an additional 307 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Avista by 3.2% in the first quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 10,131 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $424,000 after acquiring an additional 313 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in Avista by 54.8% in the second quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 884 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 313 shares during the period. Finally, Amalgamated Bank grew its holdings in Avista by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 22,897 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $869,000 after acquiring an additional 347 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on AVA. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Avista in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Avista from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Avista to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $39.50.

Avista Stock Performance

AVA stock opened at $38.20 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $37.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 1.00. Avista Corporation has a one year low of $34.80 and a one year high of $43.09. The firm has a market cap of $3.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.21, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.39.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.11). Avista had a return on equity of 6.86% and a net margin of 9.13%.The firm had revenue of $400.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $416.06 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.29 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Avista Corporation will post 2.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 19th were issued a dividend of $0.49 per share. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.1%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 19th. Avista’s dividend payout ratio is currently 88.29%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP David J. Meyer sold 1,367 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.72, for a total transaction of $50,196.24. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 8,394 shares in the company, valued at $308,227.68. The trade was a 14.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Bryan Alden Cox bought 3,671 shares of Avista stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 16th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $35.55 per share, for a total transaction of $130,504.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 9,989 shares in the company, valued at $355,108.95. This represents a 58.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.96% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.