Cibc World Markets Corp Invests $268,000 in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Cibc World Markets Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 7,326 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $268,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVA. RWC Asset Management LLP lifted its position in shares of Avista by 70.4% during the fourth quarter. RWC Asset Management LLP now owns 538,517 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $19,726,000 after buying an additional 222,500 shares during the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Avista during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $7,875,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Avista by 16.6% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,184,838 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $43,401,000 after acquiring an additional 168,648 shares during the last quarter. NFJ Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in Avista in the third quarter valued at approximately $4,963,000. Finally, Buck Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Avista during the fourth quarter worth $4,224,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 2,298 shares of Avista stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.75, for a total transaction of $89,047.50. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 12,539 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Avista Stock Performance

Shares of Avista stock opened at $39.73 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.83, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.46. 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $38.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.72.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.84 earnings per share (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 return on equity of 7.83% and a net margin of 10.24%. Sell-side analysts expect that Avista Co. will post 2.3 EPS for the current year.

Avista Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were paid a dividend of $0.49 per share. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.93%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 26th. This is an increase from Avista’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Avista’s payout ratio is presently 86.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.