Keybank National Association OH Acquires 508 Shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Keybank National Association OH lifted its holdings in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 4.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 13,217 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 508 shares during the period. Keybank National Association OH’s holdings in Avista were worth $484,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in Avista by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 38,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,403,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in Avista by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 7,814 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $286,000 after acquiring an additional 351 shares in the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Avista by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 25,772 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $944,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Avista by 45.3% in the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,462 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 456 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Avista by 117.8% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 858 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 464 shares in the last quarter. 85.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Avista from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 2,298 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.75, for a total transaction of $89,047.50. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 12,539 shares in the company, valued at $485,886.25. This represents a 15.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Avista Trading Up 1.7 %

AVA stock opened at $39.73 on Monday. Avista Co. has a 1-year low of $33.00 and a 1-year high of $40.21. The firm has a market cap of $3.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.46. The business’s 50 day moving average is $37.20 and its 200-day moving average is $37.64. 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 (NYSE:AVA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.86 by ($0.02). Avista had a net margin of 10.24% and a return on equity of 7.83%. The company had revenue of $517.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $487.48 million. Equities analysts anticipate that Avista Co. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avista Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be paid 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 dividend yield of 4.93%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 26th. Avista’s dividend payout ratio is currently 86.34%.

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.