Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) Shares Sold by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lessened its holdings in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 67,023 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 602 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Avista were worth $2,455,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AVA. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Avista by 117.8% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 858 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 464 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in shares of Avista by 296.7% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 715 shares in the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Avista by 45.3% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,462 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 456 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in Avista by 43.0% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,723 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 518 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eastern Bank raised its position in Avista by 309.3% in the fourth quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 1,842 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 1,392 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

Avista Price Performance

Shares of AVA stock opened at $40.04 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $38.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.75. The company has a market capitalization of $3.21 billion, a PE ratio of 15.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.46. Avista Co. has a twelve month low of $33.00 and a twelve month high of $40.23. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by ($0.02). The firm 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 research analysts anticipate that Avista Co. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avista Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.90%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 26th. This is a positive change from Avista’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Avista’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 86.34%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Avista news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 2,298 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.75, for a total transaction of $89,047.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 12,539 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $485,886.25. This trade represents a 15.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.96% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.