International Assets Investment Management LLC Buys New Stake in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 86,180 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $33,390,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC owned about 0.11% of Avista as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Avista by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,559,466 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $334,772,000 after purchasing an additional 33,431 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its holdings in shares of Avista by 0.4% during the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 3,551,460 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $122,916,000 after buying an additional 13,445 shares in the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. raised its position in Avista by 10.1% during the first quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 1,904,651 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $66,701,000 after buying an additional 174,951 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Avista by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,534,341 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $53,103,000 after acquiring an additional 61,466 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. boosted its position in Avista by 13.6% during the 2nd quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. now owns 692,944 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $23,983,000 after acquiring an additional 83,127 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.24% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Avista Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE AVA traded down $0.50 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $37.69. The company had a trading volume of 392,827 shares, compared to its average volume of 512,542. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.88. Avista Co. has a twelve month low of $31.57 and a twelve month high of $39.99. The stock's 50 day moving average is $38.31 and its 200-day moving average is $37.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.97 billion, a PE ratio of 15.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.47.

Avista (NYSE:AVA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $390.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $386.69 million. Avista had a return on equity of 7.77% and a net margin of 10.12%. The business's revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.23 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Avista Co. will post 2.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avista Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.04%. Avista's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 76.92%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP David J. Meyer sold 2,400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.32, for a total value of $91,968.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,436 shares in the company, valued at approximately $208,307.52. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.96% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Avista 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.