Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) Position Boosted by State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D grew its holdings in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 6.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 54,144 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,413 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D owned approximately 0.07% of Avista worth $1,983,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in AVA. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. bought a new position in shares of Avista during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Avista in the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in Avista by 296.7% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 715 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in 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 acquiring an additional 518 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eastern Bank raised its position in shares of Avista by 309.3% in the fourth quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 1,842 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 1,392 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

Avista Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of Avista stock opened at $37.91 on Monday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $36.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.55. The company has a market cap of $3.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.10, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. Avista Co. has a 1 year low of $32.70 and a 1 year high of $39.99.

Avista Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be paid a $0.49 dividend. This is an increase from Avista’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.17%. Avista’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 75.70%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.