LPL Financial LLC Boosts Stake in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

LPL Financial LLC raised its position in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 28.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 35,291 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,753 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in Avista were worth $1,293,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in Avista by 117.8% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 858 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 464 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in Avista by 296.7% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 715 shares during the period. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Avista by 45.3% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,462 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 456 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of Avista by 43.0% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,723 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 518 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eastern Bank raised its stake in shares of Avista by 309.3% in the 4th quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 1,842 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 1,392 shares during the period. 85.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 12,539 shares in the company, valued at approximately $485,886.25. This represents a 15.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Avista Stock Performance

Avista stock opened at $41.80 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.36 billion, a PE ratio of 16.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.38. Avista Co. has a one year low of $33.45 and a one year high of $43.09. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $39.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.75.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $517.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $487.48 million. Avista had a return on equity of 7.83% and a net margin of 10.24%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Avista Co. will post 2.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avista Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were given a $0.49 dividend. This is a boost from Avista’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 26th. Avista’s dividend payout ratio is presently 86.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.