Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA - Free Report) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,253,280 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 24,981 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned about 1.58% of Avista worth $45,908,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Avista by 117.8% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 858 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 464 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 715 shares during the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Avista by 45.3% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,462 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 456 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings 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 worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 518 shares during the period. Finally, Eastern Bank increased 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 acquiring an additional 1,392 shares during the period. 85.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Insider Buying and Selling at Avista
In related news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 2,298 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 trade represents a 15.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
Avista Stock Performance
Shares of NYSE:AVA traded up $0.97 on Friday, hitting $40.00. The company's stock had a trading volume of 877,163 shares, compared to its average volume of 476,727. Avista Co. has a 12 month low of $33.00 and a 12 month high of $40.23. The stock's 50-day moving average is $37.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.75. The company has a market capitalization of $3.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.46.
Avista (NYSE:AVA - Get Free Report) last released 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). The company had revenue of $517.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $487.48 million. Avista had a net margin of 10.24% and a return on equity of 7.83%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Avista Co. will post 2.3 EPS for the current year.
Avista Increases Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were given a $0.49 dividend. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.90%. This is an increase from Avista's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 26th. Avista's dividend payout ratio is 86.34%.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Separately, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Avista from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th.
Get Our Latest Report on AVA
About Avista
(
Free Report)
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.
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