33,623 Shares in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) Purchased by Edgestream Partners L.P.

Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new stake in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 33,623 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,232,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Algert Global LLC boosted its holdings in Avista by 202.2% in the third quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 57,617 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,233,000 after acquiring an additional 38,550 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Avista by 9.0% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 420,527 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $16,295,000 after acquiring an additional 34,829 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Avista in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $561,000. A. D. Beadell Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new stake in Avista in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,340,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Avista by 1.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,828,230 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $70,857,000 after acquiring an additional 27,328 shares during the last quarter. 85.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Avista from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th.

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Avista Trading Up 2.5 %

Shares of Avista stock traded up $0.97 on Friday, reaching $40.00. 877,163 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 476,667. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.75. Avista Co. has a 52 week low of $33.00 and a 52 week high of $40.23. The firm's 50-day moving average is $37.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.67. The company has a market capitalization of $3.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.46.

Avista (NYSE:AVA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.86 by ($0.02). Avista had a return on equity of 7.83% and a net margin of 10.24%. The firm had revenue of $517.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $487.48 million. Sell-side analysts predict that Avista Co. will post 2.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avista Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be given a dividend of $0.49 per share. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.90%. This is a positive change from Avista's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 26th. Avista's dividend payout ratio is presently 86.34%.

Insider Transactions at Avista

In other news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 2,298 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.75, for a total transaction of $89,047.50. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 12,539 shares of the company's stock, valued at $485,886.25. This represents a 15.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.96% of the stock is owned by 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.