127,077 Shares in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) Bought by New Age Alpha Advisors LLC

New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 127,077 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,655,000.

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

Avista Stock Performance

AVA opened at $40.90 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $38.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.46. Avista Co. has a 12-month low of $33.00 and a 12-month high of $41.01.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 analyst estimates of $487.48 million. Avista had a return on equity of 7.83% and a net margin of 10.24%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Avista Co. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Avista Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were given a dividend of $0.49 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.79%. This is a positive change from Avista’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Avista’s dividend payout ratio is currently 86.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of 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 other Avista news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 2,298 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 12,539 shares in the company, valued at approximately $485,886.25. This trade represents a 15.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.96% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Avista Company 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.