Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC Has $4.59 Million Holdings in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC trimmed its position in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 16.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 125,361 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 25,292 shares during the period. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC owned approximately 0.16% of Avista worth $4,592,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Avista by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,260,857 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $375,855,000 after buying an additional 327,535 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Avista by 1.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,828,230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $70,857,000 after acquiring an additional 27,328 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Avista by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,253,280 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $45,908,000 after purchasing an additional 24,981 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Avista by 16.6% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,184,838 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $43,401,000 after purchasing an additional 168,648 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. increased its position in Avista by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 1,019,177 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,332,000 after purchasing an additional 94,460 shares in the last quarter. 85.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Avista from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Avista

In related news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 2,298 shares of Avista stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.75, for a total value of $89,047.50. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 12,539 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $485,886.25. The trade was a 15.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Avista Stock Performance

NYSE:AVA opened at $40.04 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $38.16 and its 200-day moving average is $37.75. The stock has a market cap of $3.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.46. Avista Co. has a 1-year low of $33.00 and a 1-year high of $40.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.86 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $517.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $487.48 million. Avista had a net margin of 10.24% and a return on equity of 7.83%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Avista Co. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Avista Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were issued a dividend of $0.49 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 26th. This is an increase from Avista’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.90%. Avista’s payout ratio is presently 86.34%.

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.