CWA Asset Management Group LLC Purchases New Holdings in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

CWA Asset Management Group LLC acquired a new position in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 45,657 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,672,000. CWA Asset Management Group LLC owned 0.06% of Avista at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its position in Avista by 5.2% in the second quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 29,135 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,008,000 after purchasing an additional 1,447 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Avista by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 259,692 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,988,000 after acquiring an additional 2,101 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Avista by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 21,888 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $758,000 after acquiring an additional 626 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in Avista in the second quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Texas Permanent School Fund Corp raised its position in Avista by 5.2% in the second quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 71,250 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,466,000 after purchasing an additional 3,538 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Avista in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $40.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America assumed coverage on Avista in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $37.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $36.75.

Avista Trading Down 3.7 %

Shares of AVA opened at $35.22 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.75. The company has a market cap of $2.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.03, a PEG ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.49. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $37.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $37.47. Avista Co. has a 52-week low of $31.91 and a 52-week high of $39.99.

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

Avista Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 26th. Avista’s dividend payout ratio is 75.70%.

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.