ProShare Advisors LLC Has $8.43 Million Holdings in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

ProShare Advisors LLC increased its stake in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA - Free Report) by 16.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 230,045 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 32,515 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC owned 0.29% of Avista worth $8,427,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AVA. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Avista during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,139,000. Demars Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Avista in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $21,047,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Avista by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,260,857 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $375,855,000 after acquiring an additional 327,535 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Avista by 27.2% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,283,532 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $47,016,000 after acquiring an additional 274,270 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RWC Asset Management LLP raised its position in shares of Avista by 70.4% during the 4th quarter. RWC Asset Management LLP now owns 538,517 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $19,726,000 after acquiring an additional 222,500 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.24% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 2,298 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company's stock.

Avista Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of Avista stock traded up $0.20 during trading on Friday, hitting $38.36. 102,695 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 601,216. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $3.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $40.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.48. 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 released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $603.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $636.30 million. Avista had a return on equity of 7.83% and a net margin of 10.24%. The firm's revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.91 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Avista Co. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.49 per share. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 13th. Avista's payout ratio is presently 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.