Xponance Inc. Takes Position in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Xponance Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 5,627 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $206,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Avista by 364.9% during the 4th quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 105,822 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,876,000 after acquiring an additional 83,062 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Avista by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 324,785 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,897,000 after purchasing an additional 13,238 shares during the period. Cibc World Markets Corp bought a new stake in shares of Avista during the 4th quarter worth about $268,000. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its holdings in Avista by 29.3% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 11,429 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $419,000 after acquiring an additional 2,593 shares during the period. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its position in Avista by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 30,773 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,127,000 after acquiring an additional 664 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Avista news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 2,298 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

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 research report on Tuesday, January 28th.

Avista Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of AVA stock opened at $40.90 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.46. Avista Co. has a 1 year low of $33.00 and a 1 year high of $41.01. 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 stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $38.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $37.76.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last released its 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). Avista had a net margin of 10.24% and a return on equity of 7.83%. The firm had revenue of $517.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $487.48 million. On average, research analysts predict that Avista Co. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avista Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were given a $0.49 dividend. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.79%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 26th. This is a boost from Avista’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Avista’s payout ratio is currently 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.