Advisors Asset Management Inc. Has $11.90 Million Stake in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 4.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 324,785 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,238 shares during the quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Avista were worth $11,897,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cibc World Markets Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Avista in the 4th quarter valued at about $268,000. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its stake in shares of Avista by 29.3% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 11,429 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $419,000 after purchasing an additional 2,593 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Avista by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 30,773 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,127,000 after purchasing an additional 664 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc bought a new position in shares of Avista in the 4th quarter valued at about $310,000. Finally, Swiss National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Avista by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 154,800 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,670,000 after acquiring an additional 2,100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 12,539 shares in the company, valued at $485,886.25. The trade was a 15.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Avista Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AVA opened at $40.01 on Tuesday. Avista Co. has a fifty-two week low of $33.00 and a fifty-two 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. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.94, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.46. The business has a 50-day moving average of $37.57 and a 200-day moving average of $37.68.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by ($0.02). Avista had a return on equity of 7.83% and a net margin of 10.24%. The business had revenue of $517.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $487.48 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict 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. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 26th were issued a dividend of $0.49 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.90%. This is a boost from Avista’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. 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.