US Bancorp DE Sells 4,093 Shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

US Bancorp DE cut its position in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 27.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 10,682 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 4,093 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Avista were worth $391,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 715 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position 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 worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 518 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank raised its stake in Avista by 309.3% during 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 in the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in Avista by 183.8% during the fourth quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,856 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 1,202 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its stake in Avista by 46.9% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,098 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $81,000 after purchasing an additional 670 shares in the last quarter. 85.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 2,298 shares of Avista stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were 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 directly owns 12,539 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $485,886.25. The trade was a 15.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.96% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target 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 Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of AVA opened at $38.83 on Thursday. Avista Co. has a twelve month low of $33.00 and a twelve month high of $40.23. The company has a market cap of $3.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.46. 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’s fifty day simple moving average is $37.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.66.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $487.48 million. As a group, analysts expect that Avista Co. will post 2.3 EPS for the current year.

Avista Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 26th. 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 yield of 5.05%. Avista’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 86.34%.

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.