Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) Shares Purchased by Prudential Financial Inc.

Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA - Free Report) by 10.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,019,177 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 94,460 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. owned about 1.29% of Avista worth $37,332,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AVA. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Avista by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 30,109 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,167,000 after acquiring an additional 974 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its stake in Avista by 4.0% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 67,625 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,620,000 after purchasing an additional 2,583 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Avista by 70.6% in the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 22,760 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $882,000 after purchasing an additional 9,418 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Avista by 2.2% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,228,299 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $47,597,000 after purchasing an additional 26,706 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. lifted its position in shares of Avista by 30.7% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 176,459 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $6,838,000 after buying an additional 41,431 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.24% of the company's stock.

Avista Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AVA traded up $0.86 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $40.90. 2,423,822 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 545,550. The stock has a market cap of $3.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.29, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.46. Avista Co. has a 1 year low of $33.00 and a 1 year high of $41.01. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $38.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $37.76. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05.

Avista (NYSE:AVA - Get Free Report) last announced its 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). 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. On average, research analysts forecast that Avista Co. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 dividend of $0.49 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.79%. This is an increase from Avista's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Avista's dividend payout ratio is presently 86.34%.

Insider Transactions at Avista

In related news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 2,298 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were 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 directly owns 12,539 shares of the company's stock, valued at $485,886.25. This represents a 15.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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.

About Avista

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.