Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Acquires 346,540 Shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 95.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 709,707 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 346,540 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned 0.91% of Avista worth $25,365,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Avista by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,429,393 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $305,229,000 after purchasing an additional 159,668 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its holdings in Avista by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 3,539,985 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $126,519,000 after acquiring an additional 26,454 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Avista by 13.2% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,820,958 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $58,944,000 after acquiring an additional 212,343 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Avista by 49.5% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,179,994 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $38,196,000 after acquiring an additional 390,457 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Avista by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,051,967 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,597,000 after acquiring an additional 55,697 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

Avista Stock Performance

Shares of Avista stock opened at $34.50 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $2.70 billion, a PE ratio of 14.31 and a beta of 0.49. Avista Co. has a 52 week low of $30.53 and a 52 week high of $40.13. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $36.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $35.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.00 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $594.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $469.34 million. Avista had a return on equity of 7.65% and a net margin of 9.96%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 29.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.73 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Avista Co. will post 2.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 23rd were given a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.51%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 22nd. Avista’s payout ratio is 78.84%.

Insider Activity at Avista

In related news, SVP Bryan Alden Cox sold 1,716 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.70, for a total transaction of $61,261.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,196 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $256,897.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Avista news, CEO Jason R. Thackston sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.98, for a total value of $92,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 32,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,202,071.88. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Bryan Alden Cox sold 1,716 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.70, for a total value of $61,261.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,196 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $256,897.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 5,916 shares of company stock valued at $215,268. 0.96% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on AVA shares. Mizuho upgraded Avista from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $32.00 to $36.00 in a report on Friday, May 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded Avista from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $35.00.

Avista 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.