Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Acquires 9,825 Shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA - Free Report) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 402,523 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 9,825 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned about 0.51% of Avista worth $14,744,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of AVA. Horizon Investment Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Avista by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. Horizon Investment Services LLC now owns 7,748 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $284,000 after purchasing an additional 762 shares during the last quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Avista by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 51,890 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,901,000 after buying an additional 5,551 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its holdings in shares of Avista by 17.5% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 13,513 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $495,000 after buying an additional 2,014 shares during the period. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Avista in the fourth quarter worth approximately $4,655,000. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Avista during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,139,000. 85.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Avista Stock Up 0.4 %

NYSE AVA traded up $0.15 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $39.70. 990,338 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 562,601. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. Avista Co. has a fifty-two week low of $33.00 and a fifty-two week high of $43.09. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $39.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.19 billion, a PE ratio of 15.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.38.

Avista (NYSE:AVA - Get Free Report) 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 company had revenue of $517.00 million for 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Avista Co. will post 2.3 EPS for the current year.

Avista Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 26th were given a dividend of $0.49 per share. This is a boost from Avista's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.94%. Avista's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 86.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Avista

In other Avista news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 2,298 shares of Avista 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 12,539 shares in the company, valued at $485,886.25. The trade was a 15.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Avista from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th.

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.