Demars Financial Group LLC Invests $21.05 Million in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Demars Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 574,587 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $21,047,000. Demars Financial Group LLC owned about 0.73% of Avista at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Avista by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 17,430 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $675,000 after buying an additional 707 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp increased its holdings in Avista by 9.3% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 77,418 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,000,000 after buying an additional 6,583 shares during the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Avista during the 3rd quarter worth $222,000. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of Avista by 290.6% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 137,408 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $5,325,000 after acquiring an additional 102,231 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Avista by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,828,230 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $70,857,000 after purchasing an additional 27,328 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.24% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Avista

In other Avista news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 2,298 shares of the 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 12,539 shares in the company, valued at $485,886.25. This represents a 15.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.96% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Avista Price Performance

Shares of Avista stock traded up $0.51 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $41.72. 140,202 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 751,788. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The company has a market capitalization of $3.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.38. Avista Co. has a 52-week low of $33.45 and a 52-week high of $43.09. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.09.

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

Avista Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 26th were issued a dividend of $0.49 per share. This is a positive change from Avista's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.70%. Avista's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.