Meeder Advisory Services Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Meeder Advisory Services Inc. lifted its position in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 79.3% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 17,183 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,597 shares during the quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Avista were worth $595,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AVA. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Avista in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $7,130,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Avista by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 236,954 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,201,000 after acquiring an additional 8,748 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Avista by 256.6% in the 2nd quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 2,714 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $94,000 after acquiring an additional 1,953 shares during the last quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp increased its stake in shares of Avista by 5.2% in the second quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 71,250 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,466,000 after acquiring an additional 3,538 shares during the period. Finally, Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Avista during the second quarter worth $40,000. 85.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Avista news, VP David J. Meyer sold 2,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.32, for a total value of $91,968.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,436 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $208,307.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Bank of America began coverage on shares of Avista in a report on Thursday. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $37.00 price target on the stock.

Avista Trading Up 2.4 %

Avista stock opened at $38.54 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.03 billion, a PE ratio of 15.99 and a beta of 0.47. Avista Co. has a 12 month low of $30.53 and a 12 month high of $39.99. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $37.97 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $36.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.07. Avista had a net margin of 10.12% and a return on equity of 7.77%. The firm had revenue of $390.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $386.69 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.23 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Avista Co. will post 2.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 22nd were paid a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.93%. Avista’s dividend payout ratio is presently 78.84%.

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.