Nuance Investments LLC Sells 73,453 Shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Nuance Investments LLC trimmed its stake in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 8.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 784,923 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 73,453 shares during the period. Avista accounts for 1.2% of Nuance Investments LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. Nuance Investments LLC owned 0.99% of Avista worth $28,752,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVA. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Avista by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,260,857 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $375,855,000 after acquiring an additional 327,535 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Avista by 1.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,828,230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $70,857,000 after buying an additional 27,328 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Avista by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,253,280 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $45,908,000 after acquiring an additional 24,981 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Avista by 16.6% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,184,838 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $43,401,000 after purchasing an additional 168,648 shares during the period. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Avista by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 1,019,177 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,332,000 after purchasing an additional 94,460 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

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 Transactions at Avista

In other news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 2,298 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $485,886.25. This represents a 15.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Avista Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE:AVA opened at $39.73 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The firm has a market cap of $3.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.83, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.46. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $38.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.72. Avista Co. has a 12-month low of $33.00 and a 12-month high of $40.23.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.86 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $517.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $487.48 million. Avista had a return on equity of 7.83% and a net margin of 10.24%. Equities analysts anticipate that Avista Co. will post 2.3 EPS for the current year.

Avista Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were given a dividend of $0.49 per share. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.93%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 26th. This is an increase from Avista’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Avista’s payout ratio is 86.34%.

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.