Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) Stake Boosted by Comerica Bank

Comerica Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA - Free Report) by 67.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 53,777 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 21,692 shares during the quarter. Comerica Bank owned approximately 0.07% of Avista worth $1,970,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Headlands Technologies LLC increased its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 668 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased 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 valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 464 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in shares of Avista by 296.7% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 956 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 715 shares during the period. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Avista by 45.3% in the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,462 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 456 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eastern Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Avista by 309.3% in the 4th quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 1,842 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 1,392 shares during the period. 85.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Activity at Avista

In other Avista news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 2,298 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.75, for a total transaction 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. This represents a 15.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Avista Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AVA traded up $0.48 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $37.95. The stock had a trading volume of 129,900 shares, compared to its average volume of 591,858. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $40.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.17, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42. 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 1-year low of $33.45 and a 1-year high of $43.09.

Avista (NYSE:AVA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 earnings per share 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 net margin of 10.24% and a return on equity of 7.83%. The firm's revenue was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.91 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Avista Co. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be given a $0.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.16%. Avista's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 83.76%.

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.