Vanguard Group Inc. Buys 327,535 Shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA - Free Report) by 3.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 10,260,857 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 327,535 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 12.96% of Avista worth $375,855,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AVA. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in Avista by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 38,300 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,403,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its position in Avista by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 22,842 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $837,000 after purchasing an additional 328 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its position in Avista by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 7,814 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $286,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares during the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. grew its position in Avista by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 25,772 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $944,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SPC Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Avista by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. SPC Financial Inc. now owns 11,200 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $410,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. 85.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 2,298 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 12,539 shares in the company, valued at approximately $485,886.25. The trade was a 15.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.96% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Avista Stock Down 3.0 %

AVA stock traded down $1.22 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $39.49. The company had a trading volume of 1,164,037 shares, compared to its average volume of 559,567. The company has a 50 day moving average of $38.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.89. The company has a market capitalization of $3.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.73, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.38. Avista Co. has a 1 year low of $33.00 and a 1 year high of $43.09. 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 released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $517.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $487.48 million. Avista had a return on equity of 7.83% and a net margin of 10.24%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Avista Co. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a dividend of $0.49 per share. 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.96%. Avista's payout ratio is 86.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective 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 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.