Cibc World Markets Corp Purchases New Position in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Cibc World Markets Corp bought a new position in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 7,326 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $268,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AVA. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Avista by 1.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,828,230 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $70,857,000 after purchasing an additional 27,328 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Avista by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,253,280 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $45,908,000 after buying an additional 24,981 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Avista by 16.6% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,184,838 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $43,401,000 after acquiring an additional 168,648 shares during the period. RWC Asset Management LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Avista by 70.4% during the 4th quarter. RWC Asset Management LLP now owns 538,517 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $19,726,000 after acquiring an additional 222,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Avista by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 439,680 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $16,105,000 after acquiring an additional 19,153 shares during the period. 85.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Avista Stock Performance

Shares of Avista stock traded up $0.86 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $40.90. 2,423,822 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 545,550. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $38.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.76. Avista Co. has a one year low of $33.00 and a one year high of $41.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.46.

Avista (NYSE:AVA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $517.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $487.48 million. Avista had a return on equity of 7.83% and a net margin of 10.24%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Avista Co. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avista Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were paid a $0.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 26th. This is a boost from Avista's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.79%. Avista's dividend payout ratio is 86.34%.

Insider Activity

In other Avista news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 2,298 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.75, for a total value of $89,047.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 12,539 shares in the company, valued at $485,886.25. This represents a 15.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.96% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price 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.

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.