Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC Makes New $935,000 Investment in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 26,154 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $935,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AVA. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Avista during the third quarter worth approximately $828,000. Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in Avista by 24.2% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 156,931 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $5,080,000 after buying an additional 30,540 shares in the last quarter. PATRIZIA Pty Ltd grew its holdings in Avista by 13.0% in the 3rd quarter. PATRIZIA Pty Ltd now owns 298,772 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $9,671,000 after buying an additional 34,257 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in Avista by 14.5% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 13,095 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $424,000 after buying an additional 1,656 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IFM Investors Pty Ltd grew its holdings in Avista by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 10,051 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $325,000 after buying an additional 791 shares in the last quarter. 85.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Avista Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of Avista stock traded up $0.67 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $36.65. The company's stock had a trading volume of 809,695 shares, compared to its average volume of 573,683. Avista Co. has a twelve month low of $30.53 and a twelve month high of $44.76. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $34.35 and a 200-day moving average of $34.31. The stock has a market cap of $2.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.43 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.85.

Avista (NYSE:AVA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The utilities provider reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.14 by ($0.06). Avista had a net margin of 9.77% and a return on equity of 7.07%. The business had revenue of $504.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $545.78 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.05 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Avista Co. will post 2.46 EPS for the current year.

Avista Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were paid a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. This is a positive change from Avista's previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. Avista's dividend payout ratio is 85.20%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AVA has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Avista from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, February 24th. Guggenheim upgraded Avista from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $34.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, January 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Avista has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $33.50.

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.