Bank of New York Mellon Corp Has $43.40 Million Stock Holdings in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA - Free Report) by 16.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,184,838 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 168,648 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned approximately 1.50% of Avista worth $43,401,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AVA. US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in Avista by 75.2% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 14,775 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $573,000 after purchasing an additional 6,344 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Avista by 16.3% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 8,706 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $337,000 after acquiring an additional 1,218 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of Avista by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 21,518 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $828,000 after acquiring an additional 1,464 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Avista by 9.0% in the 3rd 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 period. Finally, Washington Trust Bank acquired a new stake in Avista during the 3rd quarter valued at $246,000. Institutional investors own 85.24% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Transactions at Avista

In other news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 2,298 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 12,539 shares in the company, valued at approximately $485,886.25. This represents a 15.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.96% of the company's stock.

Avista Stock Performance

Shares of Avista stock traded down $0.05 on Monday, hitting $39.65. The stock had a trading volume of 1,473,229 shares, compared to its average volume of 571,983. The stock has a market cap of $3.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.46. The business's 50 day moving average is $37.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.64. 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 Co. has a twelve month low of $33.00 and a twelve month high of $40.23.

Avista (NYSE:AVA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.86 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $517.00 million for 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%. Analysts forecast that Avista Co. will post 2.3 EPS for the current year.

Avista Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders 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 4.94%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 26th. This is a positive change from Avista's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Avista's dividend payout ratio is presently 86.34%.

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.