Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) Shares Bought by Natixis Advisors LLC

Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 30,773 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 664 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Avista were worth $1,127,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vestcor Inc purchased a new stake in Avista during the 4th quarter worth approximately $310,000. Swiss National Bank grew its position in shares of Avista by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 154,800 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,670,000 after buying an additional 2,100 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Avista by 16.5% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 10,145 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $372,000 after buying an additional 1,439 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Avista by 168.7% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,421 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $89,000 after acquiring an additional 1,520 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealthfront Advisers LLC bought a new position in Avista during the 4th quarter valued at $7,875,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of 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

Shares of AVA opened at $39.73 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.18 billion, a PE ratio of 15.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.46. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $38.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.48. Avista Co. has a 12-month low of $33.00 and a 12-month high of $40.23.

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

Avista Increases Dividend

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

Avista Company 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.