New Age Alpha Advisors LLC Acquires New Shares in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 127,077 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $4,655,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.16% of Avista as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective 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.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 2,298 shares of the 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 transaction, the vice president now 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company's stock.

Avista Stock Performance

AVA stock traded down $0.05 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $42.22. The company's stock had a trading volume of 100,771 shares, compared to its average volume of 734,962. Avista Co. has a 1 year low of $33.00 and a 1 year high of $42.52. The stock has a market cap of $3.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.82, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.46. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $38.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.82. 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 posted 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 company had revenue of $517.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $487.48 million. Avista had a net margin of 10.24% and a return on equity of 7.83%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Avista Co. will post 2.3 EPS for the current year.

Avista Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were issued a dividend of $0.49 per share. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.64%. This is a positive change 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%.

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.