Bank of New York Mellon Corp Purchases 168,648 Shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 16.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,184,838 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 168,648 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned 1.50% of Avista worth $43,401,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. bought a new position in Avista in the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Avista in the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in Avista by 296.7% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 715 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in Avista by 43.0% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,723 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 518 shares during the period. Finally, Eastern Bank raised its holdings in Avista by 309.3% in the 4th quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 1,842 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 1,392 shares during the period. 85.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Avista Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of AVA stock opened at $39.04 on Friday. Avista Co. has a 52-week low of $33.00 and a 52-week high of $40.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.13 billion, a PE ratio of 15.55, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.46. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $37.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.65.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by ($0.02). Avista had a return on equity of 7.83% and a net margin of 10.24%. The business had revenue of $517.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $487.48 million. On average, analysts predict that Avista Co. will post 2.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avista Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders 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 yield of 5.02%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 26th. This is a positive change from Avista’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Avista’s dividend payout ratio is presently 86.34%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 2,298 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.75, for a total transaction of $89,047.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 12,539 shares in the company, valued at $485,886.25. This trade represents a 15.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.