15,311 Shares in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) Acquired by Proficio Capital Partners LLC

Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 15,311 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $561,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Avista by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 38,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,403,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its position in Avista by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 7,814 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $286,000 after buying an additional 351 shares in the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 490 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted 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 buying an additional 518 shares in the last quarter. 85.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Avista Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of AVA stock opened at $39.73 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $37.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.64. Avista Co. has a fifty-two week low of $33.00 and a fifty-two week high of $40.21. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The stock has a market cap of $3.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.46.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.84 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 firm had revenue of $517.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $487.48 million. On average, analysts anticipate that Avista Co. will post 2.3 EPS for the current year.

Avista Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be given a dividend of $0.49 per share. This is a boost from Avista’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 26th. Avista’s payout ratio is presently 86.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group reduced 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.

Insider Transactions at Avista

In related news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 2,298 shares of Avista stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.75, for a total value of $89,047.50. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 12,539 shares in the company, valued at approximately $485,886.25. The trade was a 15.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

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.