First Trust Advisors LP Acquires 19,127 Shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA - Free Report) by 6.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 319,502 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 19,127 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 0.40% of Avista worth $11,703,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in Avista by 290.6% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 137,408 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $5,325,000 after purchasing an additional 102,231 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in Avista during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $155,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Avista by 9.0% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 420,527 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $16,295,000 after acquiring an additional 34,829 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of 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 during the period. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Avista in the fourth quarter worth $1,672,000. Institutional investors own 85.24% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Avista news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 2,298 shares of Avista stock in a transaction 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Avista Trading Up 0.4 %

Avista stock traded up $0.15 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $41.38. 91,115 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 571,020. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.48, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.38. Avista Co. has a 12 month low of $33.45 and a 12 month high of $43.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $40.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $38.30.

Avista (NYSE:AVA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.86 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $517.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $487.48 million. Avista had a return on equity of 7.83% and a net margin of 10.24%. Analysts forecast that Avista Co. will post 2.3 EPS for the current year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be given a dividend of $0.49 per share. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.74%. Avista's payout ratio is 86.34%.

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.