Tower Research Capital LLC TRC Buys 8,019 Shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA - Free Report) by 273.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,950 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 8,019 shares during the quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC's holdings in Avista were worth $401,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVA. Norges Bank bought a new position in Avista during the 4th quarter worth $27,139,000. Demars Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Avista in the fourth quarter worth $21,047,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in 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. lifted its position in Avista by 27.2% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,283,532 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $47,016,000 after purchasing an additional 274,270 shares during the period. Finally, RWC Asset Management LLP lifted its position in Avista by 70.4% during the fourth quarter. RWC Asset Management LLP now owns 538,517 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $19,726,000 after purchasing 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 dropped their target price on shares of Avista from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th.

Insider Activity at Avista

In other Avista news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 2,298 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $485,886.25. This trade represents a 15.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.96% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Avista Price Performance

Shares of AVA stock traded down $0.03 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $41.92. The company's stock had a trading volume of 50,383 shares, compared to its average volume of 573,700. Avista Co. has a fifty-two week low of $33.45 and a fifty-two week high of $43.09. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $40.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The company has a market capitalization of $3.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.71, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42.

Avista (NYSE:AVA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.86 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $517.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $487.48 million. Avista had a return on equity of 7.83% and a net margin of 10.24%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Avista Co. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be given a dividend of $0.49 per share. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.68%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 13th. Avista's dividend payout ratio is 86.34%.

About Avista

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.