Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) Shares Bought by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA - Free Report) by 46.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 374,207 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 117,814 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.48% of Avista worth $14,501,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVA. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Avista in the 2nd quarter valued at $7,130,000. Peregrine Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Avista in the 2nd quarter valued at $6,506,000. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Avista by 10.1% in the 1st quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 1,904,651 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $66,701,000 after purchasing an additional 174,951 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Avista during the 2nd quarter worth $5,638,000. Finally, Moody Aldrich Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Avista during the 3rd quarter worth $4,725,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.24% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Bank of America started coverage on Avista in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $37.00 price target on the stock.

Avista Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE AVA traded down $0.58 during trading on Friday, hitting $37.78. 310,462 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 514,455. Avista Co. has a 12-month low of $31.54 and a 12-month high of $39.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.88. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $38.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $37.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.95 billion, a PE ratio of 15.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.47.

Avista (NYSE:AVA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $390.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $386.69 million. Avista had a return on equity of 7.77% and a net margin of 10.12%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.23 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Avista Co. will post 2.4 EPS for the current year.

Avista Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 22nd were given a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 22nd. Avista's payout ratio is 78.84%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP David J. Meyer sold 2,400 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.32, for a total transaction of $91,968.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,436 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $208,307.52. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company's stock.

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.