Vanguard Group Inc. Has $340.46 Million Stock Position in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,526,035 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 96,642 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 0.12% of Avista worth $340,460,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Congress Asset Management Co. MA boosted its stake in Avista by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 84,781 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,030,000 after buying an additional 301 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Avista by 95.4% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 709,707 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,365,000 after acquiring an additional 346,540 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP boosted its stake in shares of Avista by 67.9% in the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,179 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 477 shares in the last quarter. Cim Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Avista during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $214,000. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its position in Avista by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 3,539,985 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $126,519,000 after purchasing an additional 26,454 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

Avista Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE AVA opened at $34.61 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $36.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $34.99. The stock has a market cap of $2.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.36 and a beta of 0.49. Avista Co. has a 52-week low of $30.53 and a 52-week high of $40.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.97.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $594.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $469.34 million. Avista had a net margin of 9.96% and a return on equity of 7.65%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 29.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.73 earnings per share.

Avista Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 23rd were issued a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 22nd. Avista’s payout ratio is presently 78.84%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Avista

In other news, SVP Bryan Alden Cox sold 1,716 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.70, for a total value of $61,261.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,196 shares in the company, valued at approximately $256,897.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Bryan Alden Cox sold 1,716 shares of Avista stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.70, for a total value of $61,261.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,196 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $256,897.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Latisha Diane Hill sold 1,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.21, for a total value of $61,557.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 11,085 shares in the company, valued at approximately $401,387.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 5,916 shares of company stock valued at $215,268. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on AVA. Mizuho raised shares of Avista from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $32.00 to $36.00 in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. StockNews.com raised Avista from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $35.00.

Avista 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.