Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) Shares Acquired by Wells Fargo & Company MN

Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its stake in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA - Free Report) by 11.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 67,440 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 7,084 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN owned about 0.09% of Avista worth $2,470,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of AVA. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Avista by 290.6% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 137,408 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $5,325,000 after buying an additional 102,231 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Avista in the third quarter valued at about $155,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in 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 period. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in Avista by 43.0% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,723 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 518 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new position in Avista during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,672,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.24% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Avista

In related news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 2,298 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.75, for a total transaction of $89,047.50. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 12,539 shares of the company's stock, valued at $485,886.25. This represents a 15.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.96% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Avista Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE AVA traded up $0.23 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $41.33. 442,718 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 573,808. Avista Co. has a 1 year low of $33.45 and a 1 year high of $43.69. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $40.14 and a 200 day moving average of $38.21. The stock has a market cap of $3.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.47, 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 (NYSE:AVA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.86 by ($0.02). Avista had a net margin of 10.24% and a return on equity of 7.83%. The firm had revenue of $517.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $487.48 million. On average, research analysts expect that Avista Co. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current 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 $0.49 dividend. This is a positive change from Avista's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 26th. Avista's payout ratio is currently 86.34%.

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.