Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) Shares Acquired by ProShare Advisors LLC

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

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Avista during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,139,000. Demars Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Avista in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $21,047,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Avista by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,260,857 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $375,855,000 after purchasing an additional 327,535 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Avista by 27.2% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,283,532 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $47,016,000 after purchasing an additional 274,270 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RWC Asset Management LLP increased its stake in Avista by 70.4% during the 4th quarter. RWC Asset Management LLP now owns 538,517 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $19,726,000 after buying an additional 222,500 shares during the period. 85.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Avista Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of AVA traded down $0.71 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $38.50. The company had a trading volume of 490,691 shares, compared to its average volume of 602,020. Avista Co. has a 1 year low of $33.45 and a 1 year high of $43.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.34, a P/E/G 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. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $40.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.47.

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

Avista Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.49 per share. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 13th. Avista's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 83.76%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Transactions at Avista

In related news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 2,298 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.75, for a total value of $89,047.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 12,539 shares of the company's stock, valued at $485,886.25. This represents a 15.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.96% of the company's stock.

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.