Horizon Investment Services LLC Grows Position in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Horizon Investment Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 10.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,748 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 762 shares during the period. Horizon Investment Services LLC’s holdings in Avista were worth $284,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AVA. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its holdings in Avista by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 38,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,403,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Avista by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 22,842 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $837,000 after acquiring an additional 328 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Avista by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 7,814 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $286,000 after acquiring an additional 351 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Avista by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 25,772 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $944,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SPC Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Avista by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. SPC Financial Inc. now owns 11,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $410,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. 85.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Avista from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company 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 business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 12,539 shares in the company, valued at approximately $485,886.25. The trade was a 15.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Avista Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of Avista stock opened at $40.90 on Friday. Avista Co. has a 1 year low of $33.00 and a 1 year high of $41.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $38.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.77. The company has a market capitalization of $3.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.46.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last issued 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 analysts’ expectations of $487.48 million. Avista had a net margin of 10.24% and a return on equity of 7.83%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Avista Co. will post 2.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avista Increases Dividend

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

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.