Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Buys 26,706 Shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,228,299 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 26,706 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 1.55% of Avista worth $47,597,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its position in Avista by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 3,551,460 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $122,916,000 after buying an additional 13,445 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Avista by 4.2% during the 2nd 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 period. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. boosted its position in Avista by 13.6% during the 2nd quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. now owns 692,944 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $23,983,000 after acquiring an additional 83,127 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Avista by 9.0% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 420,527 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $16,295,000 after purchasing an additional 34,829 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in Avista by 46.0% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 374,207 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $14,501,000 after purchasing an additional 117,814 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

Avista Stock Performance

Shares of AVA opened at $38.69 on Monday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $38.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.34. The stock has a market cap of $3.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.41, a PEG ratio of 4.24 and a beta of 0.47. Avista Co. has a 52 week low of $31.91 and a 52 week high of $39.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $383.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $389.29 million. Avista had a return on equity of 7.83% and a net margin of 10.24%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.19 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Avista Co. will post 2.36 EPS for the current year.

Avista Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be given a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.91%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. Avista’s dividend payout ratio is 75.70%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.