Strs Ohio Boosts Stake in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Strs Ohio lifted its holdings in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 33.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Strs Ohio’s holdings in Avista were worth $71,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AVA. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in shares of Avista by 41,325.0% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 3,314 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $107,000 after buying an additional 3,306 shares during the period. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in Avista during the fourth quarter worth $216,000. Panagora Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Avista by 11.9% during the third quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,390 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $207,000 after purchasing an additional 681 shares in the last quarter. MQS Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Avista in the third quarter valued at about $229,000. Finally, Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Avista during the third quarter worth about $231,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

Avista Stock Up 1.8 %

AVA stock opened at $36.65 on Thursday. 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 50-day moving average of $34.35 and a two-hundred day moving average of $34.31. Avista Co. has a 12 month low of $30.53 and a 12 month high of $44.76. The company has a market cap of $2.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.43 and a beta of 0.50.

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

Avista Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, February 23rd were issued a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.18%. This is a positive change from Avista’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. Avista’s dividend payout ratio is currently 85.20%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AVA has been the topic of a number of research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Avista from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 24th. Guggenheim upgraded Avista from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $34.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Avista has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $33.50.

About Avista

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.