Syon Capital LLC Purchases New Position in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Syon Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 9,997 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $366,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its position in shares of Avista by 2,474.1% during the 4th quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 695 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 668 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Avista by 117.8% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 858 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 464 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in shares of Avista by 296.7% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 956 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 715 shares during the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Avista by 45.3% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,462 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 456 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in Avista by 43.0% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,723 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 518 shares during the last quarter. 85.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Avista Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE AVA traded down $0.25 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $41.22. The company had a trading volume of 116,226 shares, compared to its average volume of 572,412. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.38. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $40.37 and a 200 day moving average of $38.28. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.86 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $517.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $487.48 million. Avista had a return on equity of 7.83% and a net margin of 10.24%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Avista Co. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avista Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were paid a dividend of $0.49 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 26th. This is a positive change from Avista's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.75%. Avista's dividend payout ratio is 86.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Buying and Selling

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 shares were sold at an average price of $38.75, for a total transaction of $89,047.50. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 12,539 shares in the company, valued at approximately $485,886.25. This represents a 15.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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.