World Investment Advisors LLC Sells 793 Shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

World Investment Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 10.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,795 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 793 shares during the quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Avista were worth $263,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AVA. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in Avista in the third quarter worth $28,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Avista during the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in Avista during the second quarter worth about $40,000. KBC Group NV grew its stake in Avista by 46.9% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,098 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $81,000 after acquiring an additional 670 shares during the period. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Avista by 256.6% in the second quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 2,714 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $94,000 after acquiring an additional 1,953 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

Avista Stock Performance

Shares of Avista stock opened at $35.46 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The firm has a market cap of $2.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.48. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $37.73 and its 200-day moving average is $37.32. Avista Co. has a one year low of $31.91 and a one year high of $39.99.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $383.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $389.29 million. Avista had a return on equity of 7.83% and a net margin of 10.24%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.19 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Avista Co. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 26th. Avista’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 75.70%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AVA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America assumed coverage on Avista in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $37.00 price objective on the stock. 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 target on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $36.75.

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.