Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Purchases Shares of 103,875 Avista Corporation $AVA

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new position in shares of Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 103,875 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,250,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Avista during the 2nd quarter worth $605,448,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Avista by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,933,633 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $421,382,000 after acquiring an additional 98,220 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Avista by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,305,266 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $204,465,000 after acquiring an additional 45,696 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Avista by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,985,944 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $76,550,000 after acquiring an additional 7,793 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in shares of Avista by 16.6% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,807,397 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $69,657,000 after purchasing an additional 257,834 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Avista from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Avista from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Avista from $40.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $39.25.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Joshua D. Diluciano sold 4,675 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.24, for a total value of $174,097.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 8,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $310,358.16. This represents a 35.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.78% of the company’s stock.

Avista Stock Up 0.9%

NYSE AVA opened at $37.60 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. Avista Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $35.50 and a fifty-two week high of $43.50. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $39.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $40.54. The stock has a market cap of $3.15 billion, a PE ratio of 13.57, a P/E/G ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.25.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $413.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $426.93 million. Avista had a net margin of 11.83% and a return on equity of 7.85%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.17 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Avista Corporation will post 2.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avista Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 18th will be given a dividend of $0.4925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 18th. This represents a $1.97 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.2%. Avista’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.12%.

Avista Profile

Avista Corporation operates as an integrated energy company providing electric and natural gas delivery services to residential, commercial and industrial customers in the Pacific Northwest. Through its regulated utility operations, the company maintains and upgrades an extensive transmission and distribution network, delivering reliable energy to approximately 400,000 electric customers and 324,000 natural gas customers across Washington, Oregon and Idaho. In addition to its core utility business, Avista invests in owned generation assets, including hydroelectric, natural gas–fired, coal and wind facilities, to support system reliability and long-term supply planning.

Founded in 1889 as the Spokane and Inland Empire Water Power Company, the business adopted the Avista name in 1999 to reflect its growing energy portfolio and strategic focus on innovation.