Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) Shares Purchased by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 9.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 23,446 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,928 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Avista were worth $859,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Avista by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 38,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,403,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Avista by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 25,772 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $944,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. raised its stake in shares of Avista by 7.3% during the third quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 6,330 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $245,000 after purchasing an additional 428 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its stake in shares of Avista by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 19,483 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $714,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares during the period. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Avista by 43.0% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,723 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 518 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

Avista Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:AVA opened at $37.91 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $36.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $37.55. The firm has a market cap of $3.00 billion, a PE ratio of 15.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.49. Avista Co. has a 12-month low of $32.70 and a 12-month high of $39.99.

Avista Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be paid a $0.49 dividend. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.17%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 26th. This is a positive change from Avista’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Avista’s payout ratio is 78.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Avista from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th.

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.