Scotia Capital Inc. Has $620,000 Holdings in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Scotia Capital Inc. lowered its position in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA - Free Report) by 37.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,923 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 10,025 shares during the quarter. Scotia Capital Inc.'s holdings in Avista were worth $620,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Avista by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,253,280 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $45,908,000 after acquiring an additional 24,981 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Avista by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,260,857 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $375,855,000 after acquiring an additional 327,535 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Avista by 44.0% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 480,744 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $17,610,000 after acquiring an additional 147,007 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Avista in the fourth quarter worth approximately $561,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Avista during the 4th quarter valued at $1,007,000. 85.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 2,298 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.75, for a total value of $89,047.50. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 12,539 shares in the company, valued at $485,886.25. The trade was a 15.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company's stock.

Avista Stock Performance

NYSE AVA traded up $0.20 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $41.80. The company had a trading volume of 531,623 shares, compared to its average volume of 571,376. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.06. The stock has a market cap of $3.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. Avista Co. has a fifty-two week low of $33.45 and a fifty-two week high of $43.09.

Avista (NYSE:AVA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.86 by ($0.02). Avista had a return on equity of 7.83% and a net margin of 10.24%. The business had revenue of $517.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $487.48 million. Equities analysts forecast that Avista Co. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avista Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 26th were given a $0.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 26th. This is a positive change from Avista's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.69%. Avista's payout ratio is currently 86.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.