Teacher Retirement System of Texas Grows Stock Holdings in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its position in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA - Free Report) by 29.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 55,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 12,649 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas owned 0.07% of Avista worth $2,015,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Avista by 117.8% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 858 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 464 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in Avista by 296.7% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 956 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 715 shares during the period. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Avista by 45.3% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,462 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 456 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in Avista by 43.0% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,723 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 518 shares during the period. Finally, Eastern Bank grew its stake in Avista by 309.3% in the 4th quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 1,842 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 1,392 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.24% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Avista news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 2,298 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.75, for a total transaction of $89,047.50. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 12,539 shares in the company, valued at approximately $485,886.25. This represents a 15.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on 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 2.3 %

Shares of AVA stock traded up $0.93 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $41.94. 1,114,627 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 547,818. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The stock has a market cap of $3.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.46. The stock's fifty day moving average is $38.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.79. Avista Co. has a 52-week low of $33.00 and a 52-week high of $41.98.

Avista (NYSE:AVA - Get Free Report) last released 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). The firm had revenue of $517.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $487.48 million. Avista had a return on equity of 7.83% and a net margin of 10.24%. Equities analysts predict that Avista Co. will post 2.3 EPS for the current year.

Avista Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were paid a dividend of $0.49 per share. This is a positive change from Avista's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.67%. Avista's 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.