Principal Securities Inc. Has $298,000 Stock Holdings in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Principal Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 13.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,141 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 967 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc.’s holdings in Avista were worth $298,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Avista by 1.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,828,230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $70,857,000 after purchasing an additional 27,328 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Avista by 2.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,228,299 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $47,597,000 after buying an additional 26,706 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Avista by 9.0% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 420,527 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $16,295,000 after buying an additional 34,829 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Avista by 46.0% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 374,207 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $14,501,000 after buying an additional 117,814 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Avista by 25.2% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 311,547 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,072,000 after buying an additional 62,615 shares during the last quarter. 85.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Avista from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th.

Avista Stock Performance

AVA opened at $37.91 on Monday. Avista Co. has a 12-month low of $32.70 and a 12-month high of $39.99. The stock 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 business has a 50 day moving average of $36.58 and a 200-day moving average of $37.55. 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 Increases Dividend

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

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.