16,700 Shares in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) Acquired by Quantbot Technologies LP

Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 16,700 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $612,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Avista by 117.8% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 858 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 464 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in shares of Avista by 296.7% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 956 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 715 shares during the period. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Avista by 45.3% in 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 last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased 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 valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 518 shares during the period. Finally, Eastern Bank raised its position in Avista by 309.3% during the 4th quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 1,842 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 1,392 shares during the last quarter. 85.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Avista Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE AVA traded up $0.43 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $42.30. 1,121,562 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 550,650. The company has a market cap of $3.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.85, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.46. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $38.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $37.82. Avista Co. has a 52 week low of $33.00 and a 52 week high of $42.45. 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 (NYSE:AVA - Get Free Report) last announced its 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). The business had revenue of $517.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $487.48 million. Avista had a net margin of 10.24% and a return on equity of 7.83%. Research analysts anticipate that Avista Co. will post 2.3 EPS for the current year.

Avista Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were issued a dividend of $0.49 per share. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.63%. This is a positive change from Avista's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 26th. Avista's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 86.34%.

Insider Transactions at Avista

In other news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 2,298 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.96% of the company's stock.

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.