Benjamin Edwards Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 23.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 14,891 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,855 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in Avista were worth $515,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AVA. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Avista by 0.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,559,466 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $334,772,000 after acquiring an additional 33,431 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its holdings in shares of Avista by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 3,539,985 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $126,519,000 after purchasing an additional 26,454 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Avista by 10.1% in the 1st quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 1,904,651 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $66,701,000 after purchasing an additional 174,951 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Avista by 4.2% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,534,341 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $53,103,000 after purchasing an additional 61,466 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in Avista by 95.4% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 709,707 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,365,000 after purchasing an additional 346,540 shares during the period. 85.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Avista Stock Performance

Shares of AVA stock opened at $38.30 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $38.36 and its 200 day moving average is $36.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.89, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.47. Avista Co. has a 12 month low of $30.53 and a 12 month high of $39.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $390.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $386.69 million. Avista had a return on equity of 7.77% and a net margin of 10.12%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.23 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Avista Co. will post 2.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Avista Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 22nd. Avista’s payout ratio is presently 78.84%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP David J. Meyer sold 2,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.32, for a total value of $91,968.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,436 shares in the company, valued at $208,307.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.