Weiss Asset Management LP Purchases Shares of 19,097 Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new stake in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 19,097 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $740,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of AVA. Cetera Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Avista during the 1st quarter valued at $349,000. CWM LLC raised its position in Avista by 32.1% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 7,115 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $246,000 after purchasing an additional 1,730 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in Avista by 383.0% during the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 27,941 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $967,000 after purchasing an additional 22,156 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Avista by 6.9% during the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,836 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $237,000 after purchasing an additional 442 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its position in shares of Avista by 6.8% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 6,696 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $232,000 after acquiring an additional 424 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.24% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on AVA. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Avista in a research note on Monday. They issued a "hold" rating and a $40.00 target price for the company. Bank of America began coverage on Avista in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $37.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $36.75.

Avista Price Performance

Shares of Avista stock traded up $0.16 during trading on Monday, hitting $37.41. The stock had a trading volume of 474,864 shares, compared to its average volume of 514,321. The firm has a market cap of $2.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.84, a P/E/G ratio of 4.18 and a beta of 0.48. Avista Co. has a 12 month low of $31.91 and a 12 month high of $39.99. The business's 50-day moving average is $37.92 and its 200 day moving average is $37.32. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.10. Avista had a net margin of 10.24% and a return on equity of 7.83%. The firm had revenue of $383.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $389.29 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.19 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Avista Co. will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Avista Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.08%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. Avista's payout ratio is 75.70%.

About Avista

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.