Groesbeck Investment Management Corp NJ Purchases New Holdings in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Groesbeck Investment Management Corp NJ purchased a new stake in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 12,675 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $464,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in shares of Avista in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Avista in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted 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 valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 518 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank lifted its position in shares of Avista by 309.3% in the fourth quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 1,842 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 1,392 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its position in shares of Avista by 46.9% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,098 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $81,000 after buying an additional 670 shares during the last quarter. 85.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Avista Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AVA opened at $36.77 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.49. 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 Co. has a 1-year low of $31.91 and a 1-year high of $39.99. The business’s 50 day moving average is $36.72 and its 200-day moving average is $37.70.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.13 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $383.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $389.29 million. Avista had a return on equity of 7.83% and a net margin of 10.24%. The company’s revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.19 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Avista Co. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th were issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 26th. Avista’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 75.70%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.