MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. Purchases 25,605 Shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA - Free Report) by 6.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 420,981 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 25,605 shares during the quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. owned 0.53% of Avista worth $15,421,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Avista by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,253,280 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $45,908,000 after buying an additional 24,981 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Avista by 44.0% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 480,744 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $17,610,000 after acquiring an additional 147,007 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Avista by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,260,857 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $375,855,000 after acquiring an additional 327,535 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Avista during the fourth quarter worth approximately $561,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Avista during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,007,000. 85.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 2,298 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was 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 directly owns 12,539 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $485,886.25. The trade was a 15.49% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.96% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Avista Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of Avista stock traded down $0.44 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $38.77. 71,186 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 600,393. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $40.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.47. The firm has a market cap of $3.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42. Avista Co. has a 52-week low of $33.45 and a 52-week high of $43.09.

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

Avista Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be paid a $0.49 dividend. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 13th. Avista's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 83.76%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Avista from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th.

About Avista

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.