Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC Has $35.76 Million Stock Holdings in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC trimmed its stake in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 25.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 922,849 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 312,840 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC owned about 1.17% of Avista worth $35,760,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Avista by 109.6% during the second quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 34,015 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,177,000 after acquiring an additional 17,784 shares during the last quarter. Algert Global LLC boosted its stake in shares of Avista by 202.2% during the 3rd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 57,617 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,233,000 after buying an additional 38,550 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Avista by 383.0% in the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 27,941 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $967,000 after buying an additional 22,156 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Avista by 9.0% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 420,527 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $16,295,000 after purchasing an additional 34,829 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in Avista during the 2nd quarter valued at about $5,638,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Bank of America started coverage on Avista in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $37.00 target price on the stock.

Avista Stock Performance

Shares of AVA stock opened at $38.06 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $37.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.34. Avista Co. has a 52 week low of $31.91 and a 52 week high of $39.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.01 billion, a PE ratio of 15.16, a P/E/G ratio of 4.24 and a beta of 0.48.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.13 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $383.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $389.29 million. Avista had a net margin of 10.24% and a return on equity of 7.83%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.19 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Avista Co. will post 2.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be issued a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.99%. Avista’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 75.70%.

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.