Advisors Asset Management Inc. Buys 62,615 Shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 25.2% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 311,547 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 62,615 shares during the quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Avista were worth $12,072,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Avista during the 2nd quarter valued at $7,130,000. Peregrine Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Avista in the second quarter valued at about $6,506,000. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Avista by 10.1% in the first quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 1,904,651 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $66,701,000 after acquiring an additional 174,951 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in Avista in the second quarter worth about $5,638,000. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC bought a new stake in shares of Avista during the 3rd quarter valued at about $5,838,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Avista in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $37.00 price objective on the stock.

Avista Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of AVA stock opened at $38.74 on Wednesday. Avista Co. has a 1 year low of $31.91 and a 1 year high of $39.99. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $37.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $37.29. The company has a market cap of $3.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.43, a PEG ratio of 4.23 and a beta of 0.47. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.13 by $0.10. Avista had a return on equity of 7.83% and a net margin of 10.24%. The business had revenue of $383.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $389.29 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.19 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Avista Co. will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Avista Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.90%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. Avista’s dividend payout ratio is currently 75.70%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP David J. Meyer sold 2,400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.32, for a total transaction of $91,968.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 5,436 shares in the company, valued at approximately $208,307.52. This trade represents a 30.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

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.