Mutual of America Capital Management LLC Trims Stake in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Mutual of America Capital Management LLC reduced its position in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 122,404 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,723 shares during the period. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC owned 0.16% of Avista worth $4,375,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Avista by 178.0% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,540 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 986 shares during the last quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Avista by 21.1% in the 1st quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 2,002 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $85,000 after purchasing an additional 349 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Avista by 83.0% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,492 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $113,000 after purchasing an additional 1,130 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its stake in Avista by 148.7% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 2,746 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $108,000 after acquiring an additional 1,642 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC raised its stake in Avista by 15.5% during the 2nd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,476 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $150,000 after acquiring an additional 466 shares during the last quarter. 85.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AVA has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com raised Avista from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 24th. Guggenheim raised Avista from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $34.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $33.50.

Avista Stock Performance

NYSE AVA opened at $33.84 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The business’s 50 day moving average is $33.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $34.05. Avista Co. has a 12-month low of $30.53 and a 12-month high of $44.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.17 and a beta of 0.50.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The utilities provider reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.14 by ($0.06). Avista had a return on equity of 7.07% and a net margin of 9.77%. The business 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 firm posted $1.05 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Avista Co. will post 2.42 EPS for the current year.

Avista Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, February 23rd were issued a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.61%. This is a boost from Avista’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. Avista’s dividend payout ratio is currently 85.20%.

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.