Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) Shares Acquired by LPL Financial LLC

LPL Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA - Free Report) by 28.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 35,291 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 7,753 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC's holdings in Avista were worth $1,293,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Avista by 117.8% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 858 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 464 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 715 shares in the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew 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 valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 456 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in Avista by 43.0% during 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 last quarter. Finally, Eastern Bank grew its holdings in Avista by 309.3% during the 4th quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 1,842 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 1,392 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.24% of the company's stock.

Avista Trading Down 0.6 %

AVA stock traded down $0.26 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $41.60. The company had a trading volume of 34,695 shares, compared to its average volume of 570,978. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $39.88 and a 200 day moving average of $38.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The company has a market capitalization of $3.34 billion, a PE ratio of 16.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.38. Avista Co. has a 12 month low of $33.45 and a 12 month high of $43.09.

Avista (NYSE:AVA - Get Free Report) last released 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $487.48 million. Avista had a return on equity of 7.83% and a net margin of 10.24%. On average, equities analysts predict that Avista Co. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avista Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 26th were paid a dividend of $0.49 per share. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.71%. This is an increase from Avista's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 26th. Avista's payout ratio is 86.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Avista news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 2,298 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.96% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Avista 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.