Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Purchases Shares of 211,704 Avista Corporation $AVA

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 211,704 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $8,661,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in AVA. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of Avista by 90.7% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 637 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares during the period. Bayban acquired a new stake in Avista during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Avista during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC purchased a new position in Avista in the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Aquatic Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Avista in the third quarter valued at approximately $43,000. 85.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AVA. Mizuho increased their price target on Avista from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Barclays lowered their target price on Avista from $40.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Weiss Ratings raised Avista from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Avista from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $39.25.

Avista Stock Performance

NYSE:AVA opened at $37.62 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $40.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $40.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The stock has a market cap of $3.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.58, a PEG ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.25. Avista Corporation has a 1-year low of $35.50 and a 1-year high of $43.50.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $413.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $426.93 million. Avista had a return on equity of 7.85% and a net margin of 11.83%.The company’s revenue was up .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.17 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Avista Corporation will post 2.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.4925 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 18th. This represents a $1.97 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.2%. Avista’s dividend payout ratio is presently 71.12%.

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.