Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Purchases 9,825 Shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 402,523 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,825 shares during the quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned approximately 0.51% of Avista worth $14,744,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AVA. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Avista by 117.8% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 858 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 464 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in Avista by 296.7% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 715 shares during the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Avista by 45.3% in the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,462 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 456 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of Avista by 43.0% during 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Eastern Bank raised its stake in shares of Avista by 309.3% during the 4th quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 1,842 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 1,392 shares during the period. 85.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Avista Stock Performance

Shares of AVA opened at $40.68 on Friday. Avista Co. has a 1 year low of $33.00 and a 1 year high of $43.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $38.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.89. The firm has a market cap of $3.27 billion, a PE ratio of 16.21, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.46.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $517.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $487.48 million. Avista had a net margin of 10.24% and a return on equity of 7.83%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Avista Co. will post 2.3 EPS for the current year.

Avista Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were paid a $0.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.82%. This is an increase from Avista’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Avista’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 86.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Avista

In other news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 2,298 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.75, for a total value of $89,047.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 12,539 shares in the company, valued at approximately $485,886.25. This trade represents a 15.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Avista from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a 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.