D.A. Davidson & CO. Has $370,000 Stake in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its position in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 12.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,557 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,041 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Avista were worth $370,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Algert Global LLC lifted its stake in shares of Avista by 202.2% in the 3rd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 57,617 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,233,000 after purchasing an additional 38,550 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. increased its holdings in Avista by 30.7% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 176,459 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,838,000 after purchasing an additional 41,431 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Avista by 2.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,228,299 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $47,597,000 after buying an additional 26,706 shares during the period. Foundry Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Avista during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $10,076,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Avista by 70.6% during the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 22,760 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $882,000 after buying an additional 9,418 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Avista in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $37.00 target price on the stock.

Avista Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:AVA opened at $38.02 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.75. Avista Co. has a 52-week low of $31.91 and a 52-week high of $39.99. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $37.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.34. The firm has a market cap of $3.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.15, a PEG ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.48.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.13 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $383.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $389.29 million. Avista had a return on equity of 7.83% and a net margin of 10.24%. Avista’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.19 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Avista Co. will post 2.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avista Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be issued a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.00%. Avista’s dividend payout ratio is presently 75.70%.

About Avista

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.