Proficio Capital Partners LLC Makes New Investment in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 15,311 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $561,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AVA. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Avista by 117.8% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 858 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 464 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in Avista by 296.7% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 956 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 715 shares during the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Avista by 45.3% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,462 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 456 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in Avista by 43.0% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,723 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 518 shares during the period. Finally, Eastern Bank lifted its stake in shares of Avista by 309.3% in the fourth quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 1,842 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 1,392 shares during the period. 85.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Insider Buying and Selling at Avista

In related news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 2,298 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 12,539 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $485,886.25. This trade represents a 15.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Avista from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th.

Avista Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of Avista stock traded up $0.09 on Thursday, hitting $40.04. The company had a trading volume of 1,185,761 shares, compared to its average volume of 501,385. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.75. Avista Co. has a 1 year low of $33.00 and a 1 year high of $40.35. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $38.10 and a 200-day moving average of $37.73.

Avista (NYSE:AVA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $517.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $487.48 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Avista Co. will post 2.3 earnings per share 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 given a $0.49 dividend. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.90%. This is an increase from Avista's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 26th. Avista's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.