IFM Investors Pty Ltd Raises Position in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

IFM Investors Pty Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 4.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,740 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 453 shares during the quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd’s holdings in Avista were worth $376,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of AVA. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Avista in the third quarter worth approximately $828,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its holdings in shares of Avista by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 35,780 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,158,000 after buying an additional 1,193 shares during the last quarter. Peregrine Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Avista by 24.5% during the 3rd quarter. Peregrine Capital Management LLC now owns 276,805 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,960,000 after buying an additional 54,439 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in shares of Avista by 24.2% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 156,931 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,080,000 after acquiring an additional 30,540 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PATRIZIA Pty Ltd grew its position in Avista by 13.0% in the third quarter. PATRIZIA Pty Ltd now owns 298,772 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,671,000 after acquiring an additional 34,257 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on AVA shares. StockNews.com raised Avista from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 24th. Guggenheim raised Avista from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $34.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Avista currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $33.50.

Avista Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:AVA traded down $0.03 during trading on Friday, reaching $35.55. 475,633 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 403,940. The business’s fifty day moving average is $34.22 and its 200-day moving average is $34.24. Avista Co. has a 52-week low of $30.53 and a 52-week high of $44.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.94 and a beta of 0.50.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 21st. The utilities provider reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.14 by ($0.06). Avista had a net margin of 9.77% and a return on equity of 7.07%. The firm had revenue of $504.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $545.78 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.05 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Avista Co. will post 2.46 EPS for the current year.

Avista Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. This is a boost from Avista’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.34%. Avista’s payout ratio is 85.20%.

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.