Versant Capital Management Inc Raises Stock Position in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 43.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,723 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 518 shares during the quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc’s holdings in Avista were worth $63,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in Avista during the third quarter worth $28,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Avista in the third quarter valued at $29,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Avista during the 2nd quarter worth $40,000. KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of Avista by 46.9% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,098 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $81,000 after buying an additional 670 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC grew its stake in Avista by 256.6% in the 2nd quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 2,714 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $94,000 after acquiring an additional 1,953 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Avista in a research report on Monday, December 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $40.00 target price for the company. 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $36.75.

Avista Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AVA opened at $36.59 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $37.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The company has a market cap of $2.90 billion, a PE ratio of 14.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.48. Avista Co. has a 12 month low of $31.91 and a 12 month high of $39.99.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.23 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 net margin of 10.24% and a return on equity of 7.83%. Avista’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.19 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Avista Co. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Avista Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were paid a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 26th. Avista’s payout ratio is 75.70%.

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.