Invesco Ltd. Boosts Stock Holdings in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 27.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,283,532 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 274,270 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd. owned approximately 1.62% of Avista worth $47,016,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Avista by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,260,857 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $375,855,000 after purchasing an additional 327,535 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Avista by 1.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,828,230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $70,857,000 after buying an additional 27,328 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Avista by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,253,280 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $45,908,000 after buying an additional 24,981 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Avista by 16.6% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,184,838 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $43,401,000 after buying an additional 168,648 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. boosted its position in Avista by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 1,019,177 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,332,000 after acquiring an additional 94,460 shares during the last quarter. 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 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 sale, the vice president now owns 12,539 shares in the company, valued at approximately $485,886.25. This trade represents a 15.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group cut 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.

Avista Stock Up 1.1 %

NYSE AVA opened at $41.75 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $39.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.00. 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 firm has a market cap of $3.35 billion, a PE ratio of 16.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.38. Avista Co. has a 52 week low of $33.00 and a 52 week high of $43.09.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last issued its 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). Avista had a return on equity of 7.83% and a net margin of 10.24%. The firm had revenue of $517.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $487.48 million. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Avista Co. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Avista Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 26th were issued a $0.49 dividend. This is a positive change from Avista’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 26th. 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.