Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) Shares Sold by American Century Companies Inc.

American Century Companies Inc. lessened its holdings in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA - Free Report) by 34.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 174,652 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 93,036 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned 0.22% of Avista worth $6,398,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AVA. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Avista by 117.8% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 858 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 464 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in Avista by 296.7% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 956 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 715 shares in 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 period. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Eastern Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Avista by 309.3% in the 4th quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 1,842 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 1,392 shares during the period. 85.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Avista Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE AVA traded up $0.15 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $39.70. 990,338 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 562,601. Avista Co. has a 1 year low of $33.00 and a 1 year high of $43.09. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $38.95 and a 200 day moving average of $37.91. The stock has a market cap of $3.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05.

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). Avista had a net margin of 10.24% and a return on equity of 7.83%. The firm had revenue of $517.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $487.48 million. On average, research analysts expect that Avista Co. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.49 per share. This is a positive change from Avista's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 26th. Avista's dividend payout ratio is currently 86.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group lowered 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.

Insider Buying and Selling at Avista

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

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.