Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. Has $2.06 Million Position in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA - Free Report) by 56.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 53,197 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 19,182 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. owned about 0.07% of Avista worth $2,061,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Avista during the 1st quarter worth $27,000. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Avista in the second quarter valued at approximately $40,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Avista in the first quarter valued at approximately $73,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Avista by 559.7% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,061 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $119,000 after purchasing an additional 2,597 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Avista during the second quarter worth approximately $154,000. 85.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Avista Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of AVA stock traded up $0.83 on Tuesday, reaching $37.23. 668,606 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 512,210. 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 market capitalization of $2.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.47. The business's 50 day moving average price is $38.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.18. Avista Co. has a 12-month low of $31.91 and a 12-month high of $39.99.

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

Avista Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd were paid a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.10%. Avista's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.92%.

Insider Activity

In other Avista news, VP David J. Meyer sold 2,400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 5,436 shares of the company's stock, valued at $208,307.52. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.