Greenland Capital Management LP Invests $520,000 in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Greenland Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 14,200 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $520,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AVA. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in Avista by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 38,300 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,403,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System increased its position in Avista by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 22,842 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $837,000 after buying an additional 328 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in Avista by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 7,814 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $286,000 after acquiring an additional 351 shares during the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Avista by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 25,772 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $944,000 after buying an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SPC Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Avista by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. SPC Financial Inc. now owns 11,200 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $410,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.24% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Avista news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 2,298 shares of Avista stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the vice president now 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company's stock.

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 on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th.

Avista Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:AVA traded up $0.56 on Monday, hitting $41.04. The company had a trading volume of 140,986 shares, compared to its average volume of 754,628. 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 1 year low of $33.00 and a 1 year high of $43.09. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $39.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.38.

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 analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $487.48 million. Equities analysts anticipate 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. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 26th were issued a $0.49 dividend. This is a positive change from Avista's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 26th. Avista's payout ratio is presently 86.34%.

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.