Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) Shares Acquired by Wesbanco Bank Inc.

Wesbanco Bank Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA - Free Report) by 34.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 40,400 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 10,400 shares during the period. Wesbanco Bank Inc. owned 0.05% of Avista worth $1,692,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AVA. Headlands Technologies LLC raised 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 buying an additional 668 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in Avista by 117.8% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 858 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 464 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in 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. increased its stake in Avista by 45.3% during the fourth 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 period. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Avista by 183.8% during the fourth quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,856 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 1,202 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.24% of the company's stock.

Avista Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of NYSE:AVA traded up $0.47 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $37.78. The company's stock had a trading volume of 462,805 shares, compared to its average volume of 605,877. Avista Co. has a fifty-two week low of $33.45 and a fifty-two week high of $43.09. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $39.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.75. The company has a market capitalization of $3.04 billion, a PE ratio of 15.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.41.

Avista (NYSE:AVA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.07). Avista had a net margin of 10.24% and a return on equity of 7.83%. The business had revenue of $603.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $636.30 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.91 EPS. The company's revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Avista Co. will post 2.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders 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 yield of 5.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 13th. Avista's payout ratio is currently 83.76%.

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.