Peregrine Capital Management LLC Purchases Shares of 187,989 Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Peregrine Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 187,989 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $6,506,000. Peregrine Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.24% of Avista at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Avista during the fourth quarter worth $18,988,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in Avista by 95.4% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 709,707 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,365,000 after purchasing an additional 346,540 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its holdings in Avista by 10.1% during the 1st quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 1,904,651 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $66,701,000 after purchasing an additional 174,951 shares during the period. Invenomic Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Avista in the 4th quarter valued at about $4,960,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Avista by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,526,035 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $340,460,000 after buying an additional 96,642 shares during the last quarter. 85.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AVA. StockNews.com upgraded Avista from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Mizuho upgraded Avista from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $32.00 to $36.00 in a report on Friday, May 3rd.

Avista Stock Up 1.3 %

NYSE:AVA traded up $0.51 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $38.64. 587,206 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 530,562. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.88. Avista Co. has a twelve month low of $30.53 and a twelve month high of $39.99. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $37.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $35.79. The firm has a market cap of $3.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.03 and a beta of 0.46.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.07. Avista had a return on equity of 7.77% and a net margin of 10.12%. The company had revenue of $390.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $386.69 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.23 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Avista Co. will post 2.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.92%. Avista’s dividend payout ratio is presently 78.84%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Avista news, VP David J. Meyer sold 2,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.32, for a total transaction of $91,968.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 5,436 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $208,307.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, SVP Bryan Alden Cox sold 1,716 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.70, for a total value of $61,261.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,196 shares in the company, valued at $256,897.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP David J. Meyer sold 2,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.32, for a total transaction of $91,968.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,436 shares in the company, valued at approximately $208,307.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

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.