Swiss National Bank Buys 2,100 Shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Swiss National Bank increased its stake in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 154,800 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,100 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Avista were worth $5,670,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of AVA. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Avista by 16.5% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 10,145 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $372,000 after purchasing an additional 1,439 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Avista by 168.7% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,421 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $89,000 after acquiring an additional 1,520 shares in the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Avista in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $7,875,000. Inspire Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Avista by 31.2% during the fourth quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 56,651 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,075,000 after acquiring an additional 13,475 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in shares of Avista by 24.7% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 20,235 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $741,000 after purchasing an additional 4,009 shares during the period. 85.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Avista from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Avista news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 2,298 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.75, for a total value of $89,047.50. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 12,539 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $485,886.25. The trade was a 15.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Avista Stock Performance

Shares of Avista stock opened at $39.65 on Monday. Avista Co. has a 52 week low of $33.00 and a 52 week high of $40.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $37.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $37.70. The company has a market cap of $3.18 billion, a PE ratio of 15.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.46.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $517.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $487.48 million. Avista had a net margin of 10.24% and a return on equity of 7.83%. Equities analysts anticipate that Avista Co. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avista Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 26th were issued a dividend of $0.49 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 26th. This is a boost from Avista’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.94%. Avista’s payout ratio is 86.34%.

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.