Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) Shares Bought by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,526,035 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 96,642 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 12.19% of Avista worth $340,460,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Quarry LP grew its position in Avista by 67.9% in the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,179 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 477 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio boosted its holdings in shares of Avista by 33.3% in the fourth quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 2,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $71,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Cim Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Avista during the fourth quarter worth about $214,000. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in Avista during the fourth quarter worth about $216,000. Finally, Foundations Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Avista by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,036 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $277,000 after purchasing an additional 442 shares during the period. 85.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Avista

In other news, VP Latisha Diane Hill sold 1,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.21, for a total value of $61,557.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 11,085 shares in the company, valued at $401,387.85. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Jason R. Thackston sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.98, for a total transaction of $92,450.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 32,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,202,071.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Latisha Diane Hill sold 1,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.21, for a total value of $61,557.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 11,085 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $401,387.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 5,916 shares of company stock worth $215,268. 0.96% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Avista Stock Performance

AVA opened at $34.61 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $36.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $34.99. The stock has a market cap of $2.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.36 and a beta of 0.49. Avista Co. has a 1-year low of $30.53 and a 1-year high of $40.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.69.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.00 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $594.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $469.34 million. Avista had a net margin of 9.96% and a return on equity of 7.65%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 29.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.73 EPS.

Avista Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.49%. Avista’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 78.84%.

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.