Stifel Financial Corp Has $3 Million Stake in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Stifel Financial Corp increased its position in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 9.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 77,418 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,583 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp’s holdings in Avista were worth $3,000,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVA. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Avista by 6.9% during the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,836 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $237,000 after purchasing an additional 442 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its position in shares of Avista by 6.8% in the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 6,696 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $232,000 after buying an additional 424 shares during the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Avista by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 25,972 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $899,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Avista by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 39,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,360,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bailard Inc. bought a new position in shares of Avista in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $658,000. Institutional investors own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AVA. Bank of America began coverage on Avista in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $37.00 target price for the company. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Avista in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $40.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $36.75.

Avista Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of AVA stock opened at $36.75 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. Avista Co. has a 1 year low of $31.91 and a 1 year high of $39.99. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $37.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.48.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $383.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $389.29 million. Avista had a return on equity of 7.83% and a net margin of 10.24%. Avista’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.19 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Avista Co. will post 2.3 EPS for the current year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th were given a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.17%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 26th. Avista’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 75.70%.

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.