Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) Shares Bought by Natixis Advisors LLC

Natixis Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 30,773 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 664 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Avista were worth $1,127,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Avista by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,253,280 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $45,908,000 after buying an additional 24,981 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC increased its stake in shares of Avista by 202.2% during the third quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 57,617 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,233,000 after acquiring an additional 38,550 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Avista during the fourth quarter worth approximately $561,000. A. D. Beadell Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new stake in Avista in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,340,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Avista by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,828,230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $70,857,000 after purchasing an additional 27,328 shares in the last quarter. 85.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Avista from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th.

Insider Activity at Avista

In related news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 2,298 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.75, for a total value of $89,047.50. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 12,539 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $485,886.25. This represents a 15.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.96% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Avista Stock Up 0.1 %

NYSE AVA opened at $39.73 on Wednesday. Avista Co. has a 12 month low of $33.00 and a 12 month high of $40.23. The company has a market capitalization of $3.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.83, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.46. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $38.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.48.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.86 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $517.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $487.48 million. Avista had a net margin of 10.24% and a return on equity of 7.83%. Equities research analysts expect that Avista Co. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avista Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were given a $0.49 dividend. This is an increase 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 of this dividend was Wednesday, February 26th. Avista’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 86.34%.

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.