Quest Partners LLC Purchases 63,437 Shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Quest Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA - Free Report) by 5,516.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 64,587 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 63,437 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC owned about 0.08% of Avista worth $2,503,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in shares of Avista during the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Avista in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new stake in Avista during the 1st quarter worth approximately $73,000. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in Avista by 46.9% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,098 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $81,000 after purchasing an additional 670 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC raised its position in Avista by 256.6% in the 2nd quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 2,714 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $94,000 after purchasing an additional 1,953 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.24% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 30.63 % 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.

Avista Trading Up 2.6 %

Shares of NYSE:AVA traded up $0.98 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $38.73. The company had a trading volume of 324,742 shares, compared to its average volume of 517,050. Avista Co. has a 12 month low of $31.91 and a 12 month high of $39.99. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $37.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $37.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The stock has a market cap of $3.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.10, a PEG ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.47.

Avista (NYSE:AVA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.13 by $0.10. Avista had a return on equity of 7.83% and a net margin of 10.24%. The company had revenue of $383.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $389.29 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.19 EPS. Avista's revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Avista Co. will post 2.36 EPS for the current year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be given a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. Avista's dividend payout ratio is currently 75.70%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.