AQR Capital Management LLC Buys 9,552 Shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 38.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 34,376 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,552 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Avista were worth $1,190,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in Avista in the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new stake in Avista in the first quarter valued at about $32,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in Avista in the second quarter valued at about $40,000. Quarry LP raised its stake in Avista by 67.9% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,179 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 477 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Avista in the first quarter worth about $73,000. 85.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Avista Price Performance

Avista stock opened at $37.59 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $38.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $36.72. The stock has a market cap of $2.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.60, a P/E/G ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.47. Avista Co. has a 52 week low of $31.09 and a 52 week high of $39.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.07. Avista had a net margin of 10.12% and a return on equity of 7.77%. The company had revenue of $390.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $386.69 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.23 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Avista Co. will post 2.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Avista Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 22nd. Avista’s dividend payout ratio is presently 78.84%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Bank of America began coverage on Avista in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $37.00 price target for the company.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Avista news, VP David J. Meyer sold 2,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.32, for a total value of $91,968.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 5,436 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $208,307.52. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.96% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.