Scotia Capital Inc. Has $620,000 Stock Holdings in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Scotia Capital Inc. trimmed its holdings in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 37.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,923 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 10,025 shares during the quarter. Scotia Capital Inc.’s holdings in Avista were worth $620,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AVA. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Avista by 4.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 17,430 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $675,000 after purchasing an additional 707 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors acquired a new position in Avista during the 3rd quarter worth $229,000. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Avista by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 77,418 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,000,000 after buying an additional 6,583 shares in the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC bought a new position in Avista in the 3rd quarter valued at $222,000. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Avista by 13.8% in the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 57,320 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,221,000 after buying an additional 6,971 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Avista Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE AVA opened at $41.24 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $39.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.48. Avista Co. has a fifty-two week low of $33.00 and a fifty-two week high of $43.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.38.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.86 by ($0.02). Avista had a return on equity of 7.83% and a net margin of 10.24%. The company had revenue of $517.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $487.48 million. On average, analysts predict 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. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 26th were given a $0.49 dividend. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.75%. This is an increase from Avista’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 26th. Avista’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 86.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 2,298 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.75, for a total transaction of $89,047.50. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 12,539 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $485,886.25. This trade represents a 15.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.96% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.