Teacher Retirement System of Texas Acquires 12,649 Shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its holdings in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 29.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 55,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 12,649 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Avista were worth $2,015,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. RWC Asset Management LLP grew its position in Avista by 70.4% in the fourth quarter. RWC Asset Management LLP now owns 538,517 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $19,726,000 after acquiring an additional 222,500 shares in the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Avista in the 4th quarter worth approximately $7,875,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Avista by 16.6% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,184,838 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $43,401,000 after purchasing an additional 168,648 shares during the last quarter. NFJ Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in Avista during the 3rd quarter valued at $4,963,000. Finally, Buck Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new stake in Avista in the fourth quarter worth $4,224,000. 85.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Avista Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:AVA opened at $40.04 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.21 billion, a PE ratio of 15.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.46. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $38.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.75. Avista Co. has a 1 year low of $33.00 and a 1 year high of $40.23. 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 data on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by ($0.02). Avista had a net margin of 10.24% and a return on equity of 7.83%. The business had revenue of $517.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $487.48 million. On average, equities analysts predict that Avista Co. will post 2.3 EPS for the current year.

Avista Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 26th were paid a $0.49 dividend. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 26th. This is an increase from Avista’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Avista’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 86.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Activity at Avista

In other Avista news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 2,298 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.75, for a total value of $89,047.50. Following the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.