Northern Trust Corp Grows Stock Position in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA - Free Report) by 8.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,025,055 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 79,576 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned 1.29% of Avista worth $37,548,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AVA. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Avista during the 4th quarter worth about $27,139,000. Demars Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Avista during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $21,047,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised 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 worth $375,855,000 after buying an additional 327,535 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake 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 worth $47,016,000 after acquiring an additional 274,270 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RWC Asset Management LLP boosted its holdings in 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 period. Institutional investors own 85.24% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Avista Stock Performance

Avista stock opened at $40.04 on Friday. Avista Co. has a fifty-two week low of $33.45 and a fifty-two week high of $43.09. The company has a market capitalization of $3.21 billion, a PE ratio of 15.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $40.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.43. 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 (NYSE:AVA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $636.30 million. Avista had a return on equity of 7.83% and a net margin of 10.24%. Avista's quarterly revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.91 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Avista Co. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be issued a $0.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.90%. Avista's dividend payout ratio is currently 86.34%.

Insider Transactions at Avista

In related news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 2,298 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were 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 owns 12,539 shares of the company's stock, valued at $485,886.25. The trade was a 15.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate 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.

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