First Trust Advisors LP Increases Stock Position in Avista Corporation $AVA

First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA) by 359.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,282,508 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,003,362 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned 1.58% of Avista worth $48,492,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new stake in Avista in the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Avista during the 2nd quarter valued at $37,000. Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in shares of Avista by 51.7% during the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,585 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 540 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Avista by 30.1% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,769 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 409 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Avista by 60.0% in the 2nd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,949 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $73,000 after buying an additional 731 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

Avista Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AVA opened at $38.93 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.28. Avista Corporation has a 1-year low of $35.50 and a 1-year high of $43.50. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $40.61 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $39.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.56.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Saturday, January 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter. Avista had a net margin of 9.83% and a return on equity of 7.29%. Research analysts expect that Avista Corporation will post 2.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avista Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.4925 per share. This is a boost from Avista’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $1.97 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 25th. Avista’s payout ratio is 82.77%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Wayne O. Manuel sold 1,785 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.74, for a total value of $69,150.90. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 9,883 shares in the company, valued at $382,867.42. The trade was a 15.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Bryan Alden Cox sold 1,768 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.18, for a total value of $71,038.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 8,401 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $337,552.18. This trade represents a 17.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.96% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AVA has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Avista from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Avista from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of Avista in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Avista from $41.00 to $39.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Barclays started coverage on shares of Avista in a report on Monday. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $40.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Avista has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $39.50.

About Avista

Avista Corporation operates as an integrated energy company providing electric and natural gas delivery services to residential, commercial and industrial customers in the Pacific Northwest. Through its regulated utility operations, the company maintains and upgrades an extensive transmission and distribution network, delivering reliable energy to approximately 400,000 electric customers and 324,000 natural gas customers across Washington, Oregon and Idaho. In addition to its core utility business, Avista invests in owned generation assets, including hydroelectric, natural gas–fired, coal and wind facilities, to support system reliability and long-term supply planning.

Founded in 1889 as the Spokane and Inland Empire Water Power Company, the business adopted the Avista name in 1999 to reflect its growing energy portfolio and strategic focus on innovation.