22,113 Shares in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) Bought by Capital Fund Management S.A.

Capital Fund Management S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 22,113 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $810,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVA. Headlands Technologies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Avista by 2,474.1% during the fourth quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 695 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 668 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Avista by 117.8% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 858 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 464 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in Avista by 296.7% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 956 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 715 shares in the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Avista by 45.3% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,462 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 456 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Avista by 43.0% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,723 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 518 shares during the period. 85.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 2,298 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.75, for a total transaction 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. This represents a 15.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company's stock.

Avista Stock Up 1.5 %

AVA stock traded up $0.63 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $41.84. The stock had a trading volume of 601,466 shares, compared to its average volume of 573,081. Avista Co. has a 1-year low of $33.45 and a 1-year high of $43.09. The company has a fifty day moving average of $39.88 and a 200 day moving average of $38.12. 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 market capitalization of $3.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.67, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.38.

Avista (NYSE:AVA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.86 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $517.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $487.48 million. Avista had a return on equity of 7.83% and a net margin of 10.24%. On average, equities analysts expect that Avista Co. will post 2.3 EPS 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 dividend of $0.49 per share. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.68%. This is an increase from Avista's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 26th. Avista's dividend payout ratio is presently 86.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective 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.

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.