MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. Has $15.42 Million Stock Position in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA - Free Report) by 6.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 420,981 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 25,605 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. owned about 0.53% of Avista worth $15,421,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AVA. Headlands Technologies LLC grew its stake in shares of Avista by 2,474.1% in the 4th quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 695 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 668 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in Avista by 117.8% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 858 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 464 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP grew its position in Avista by 296.7% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 956 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 715 shares in the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Avista by 45.3% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,462 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 456 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Avista by 183.8% during the 4th quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,856 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 1,202 shares in the last quarter. 85.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Avista Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE AVA traded up $0.15 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $39.10. 1,823,840 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 600,304. The company's fifty day moving average is $40.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.45. 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 fifty-two week low of $33.45 and a fifty-two week high of $43.09. The stock has a market cap of $3.15 billion, a PE ratio of 15.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42.

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

Avista Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be issued a $0.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.01%. Avista's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 83.76%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 2,298 shares of Avista 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 12,539 shares in the company, valued at approximately $485,886.25. The trade was a 15.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company's stock.

Avista Company 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.