Victory Capital Management Inc. Has $13.13 Million Stake in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Victory Capital Management Inc. lowered its stake in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA - Free Report) by 5.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 358,456 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 19,768 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 0.45% of Avista worth $13,130,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AVA. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Avista by 9.0% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 420,527 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $16,295,000 after acquiring an additional 34,829 shares during the last quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP bought a new position in shares of Avista in the third quarter worth about $334,000. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of Avista by 46.9% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,098 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $81,000 after acquiring an additional 670 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Avista by 3.3% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 30,109 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,167,000 after acquiring an additional 974 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in shares of Avista by 4.0% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 67,625 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,620,000 after acquiring an additional 2,583 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.24% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Avista news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 2,298 shares of the firm'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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 12,539 shares in the company, valued at approximately $485,886.25. This trade represents a 15.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company's stock.

Avista Trading Up 2.5 %

NYSE AVA traded up $0.97 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $40.00. The company's stock had a trading volume of 877,163 shares, compared to its average volume of 474,751. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $37.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.67. The stock has a market cap of $3.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.46. Avista Co. has a 52 week low of $33.00 and a 52 week high of $40.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.48.

Avista (NYSE:AVA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.86 by ($0.02). Avista had a net margin of 10.24% and a return on equity of 7.83%. The business had revenue of $517.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were issued 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.90%. Avista's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.