Inspire Advisors LLC Buys 13,475 Shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Inspire Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 31.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 56,651 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,475 shares during the period. Inspire Advisors LLC’s holdings in Avista were worth $2,075,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AVA. US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in shares of Avista by 75.2% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 14,775 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $573,000 after buying an additional 6,344 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in Avista by 7.3% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 21,518 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $828,000 after purchasing an additional 1,464 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Avista by 9.0% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 420,527 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $16,295,000 after purchasing an additional 34,829 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Avista during the third quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Versor Investments LP lifted its stake in Avista by 95.8% during the third quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 74,599 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,891,000 after purchasing an additional 36,494 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 2,298 shares of Avista stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were 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 owns 12,539 shares in the company, valued at approximately $485,886.25. The trade was a 15.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Avista Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of AVA opened at $39.65 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. Avista Co. has a 12 month low of $33.00 and a 12 month high of $40.23. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $37.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $37.65.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last posted its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $517.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $487.48 million. Equities analysts predict that Avista Co. will post 2.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avista Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be paid a $0.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.94%. This is a boost from Avista’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Avista’s payout ratio is 86.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Avista from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company 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.