Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) Shares Bought by Harbor Capital Advisors Inc.

Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA - Free Report) by 29.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 70,747 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 16,042 shares during the quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. owned approximately 0.09% of Avista worth $2,962,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in Avista by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 38,300 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,403,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its stake in Avista by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 22,842 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $837,000 after buying an additional 328 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in Avista by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 7,814 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $286,000 after buying an additional 351 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Avista by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 137,767 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $5,046,000 after buying an additional 359 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SPC Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Avista by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. SPC Financial Inc. now owns 11,200 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $410,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.24% of the company's stock.

Avista Stock Performance

NYSE AVA traded down $0.59 on Friday, reaching $37.28. The stock had a trading volume of 592,940 shares, compared to its average volume of 608,850. 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 12-month low of $33.45 and a 12-month high of $43.09. The business's 50-day moving average price is $39.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.49. The stock has a market cap of $3.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.41.

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

Avista Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th were paid a dividend of $0.49 per share. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 13th. Avista's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 83.76%.

Insider Transactions at Avista

In other news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 1,024 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.82, for a total transaction of $38,727.68. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 11,515 shares in the company, valued at $435,497.30. This represents a 8.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company's stock.

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.