ATLAS Infrastructure Partners UK Ltd. Takes Position in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

ATLAS Infrastructure Partners UK Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 217,307 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $7,960,000. Avista comprises approximately 1.9% of ATLAS Infrastructure Partners UK Ltd.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. ATLAS Infrastructure Partners UK Ltd. owned 0.27% of Avista at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Headlands Technologies LLC lifted its position in shares of Avista by 2,474.1% during the 4th quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 695 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 668 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Avista by 117.8% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 858 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 464 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in Avista by 296.7% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 956 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 715 shares in the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Avista by 45.3% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,462 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 456 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in Avista by 43.0% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,723 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 518 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.24% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Avista

In other news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 2,298 shares of the business'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 value of $89,047.50. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company's stock.

Avista Stock Performance

AVA traded down $0.72 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $41.08. The stock had a trading volume of 927,935 shares, compared to its average volume of 580,736. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.75. The company's 50-day moving average price is $40.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.37, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42. Avista Co. has a twelve month low of $30.00 and a twelve month high of $43.09.

Avista (NYSE:AVA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.05. Avista had a return on equity of 7.83% and a net margin of 10.24%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.91 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Avista Co. will post 2.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avista Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be given a $0.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.77%. Avista's dividend payout ratio is presently 86.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target 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.

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.