Vestcor Inc Takes Position in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Vestcor Inc acquired a new position in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 8,450 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $310,000.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Avista from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th.

Insider Activity

In other Avista news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 2,298 shares of the business’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 transaction of $89,047.50. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 12,539 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $485,886.25. The trade was a 15.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.96% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Avista Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of Avista stock opened at $40.01 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.21 billion, a PE ratio of 15.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.46. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $37.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.75. Avista Co. has a 52-week low of $33.00 and a 52-week high of $40.23.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $517.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $487.48 million. On average, analysts predict that Avista Co. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avista Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were paid a dividend of $0.49 per share. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.90%. This is an increase from Avista’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 26th. Avista’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.