Ameriprise Financial Inc. Buys 53,222 Shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA - Free Report) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,967,172 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 53,222 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned 3.75% of Avista worth $108,687,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Avista by 3.3% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Avista by 27.2% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,283,532 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $47,016,000 after acquiring an additional 274,270 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position 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 in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Avista by 16.6% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,184,838 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $43,401,000 after acquiring an additional 168,648 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Avista by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,025,055 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $37,548,000 after acquiring an additional 79,576 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.24% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 2,298 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were 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 approximately $485,886.25. This trade represents a 15.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Avista from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th.

Avista Stock Performance

Shares of AVA traded down $0.64 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $39.36. 1,014,574 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 587,265. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42. 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 Co. has a twelve month low of $33.45 and a twelve month high of $43.09. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $40.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $38.43.

Avista (NYSE:AVA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $603.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $636.30 million. Avista had a return on equity of 7.83% and a net margin of 10.24%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.91 EPS. Analysts predict that Avista Co. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be given a dividend of $0.49 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.98%. Avista's payout ratio is presently 83.76%.

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.