Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) Stake Boosted by Gamco Investors INC. ET AL

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL lifted its holdings in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA - Free Report) by 12.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 304,999 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 33,925 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL owned approximately 0.39% of Avista worth $11,172,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Avista by 2,474.1% in the fourth quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 695 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 668 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Avista by 117.8% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 858 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 464 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in Avista by 296.7% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 956 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 715 shares during the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Avista by 45.3% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,462 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 456 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.24% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Avista Stock Performance

Shares of AVA traded up $0.20 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $41.80. 531,623 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 571,376. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.38. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $39.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $38.06. Avista Co. has a twelve month low of $33.45 and a twelve month high of $43.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.48.

Avista (NYSE:AVA - Get Free Report) last announced 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 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 the consensus estimate of $487.48 million. Analysts predict that Avista Co. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Avista Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 26th were issued a $0.49 dividend. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.69%. This is a boost from Avista's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 26th. Avista's payout ratio is presently 86.34%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 2,298 shares of the company'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 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company's stock.

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.