Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Acquires 9,825 Shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 402,523 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,825 shares during the quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership’s holdings in Avista were worth $14,744,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its stake in Avista by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 38,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,403,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Avista by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 22,842 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $837,000 after buying an additional 328 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its position in shares of Avista by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 7,814 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $286,000 after buying an additional 351 shares in the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Avista by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 25,772 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $944,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SPC Financial Inc. grew its position in Avista by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. SPC Financial Inc. now owns 11,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $410,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

Avista Stock Down 4.0 %

Shares of NYSE AVA opened at $40.68 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.21, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.46. Avista Co. has a one year low of $33.00 and a one year high of $43.09. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $38.77 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.48.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $487.48 million. Avista had a net margin of 10.24% and a return on equity of 7.83%. As a group, analysts expect that Avista Co. will post 2.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avista Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were issued a $0.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.82%. This is an increase from Avista’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Avista’s payout ratio is currently 86.34%.

Insider Activity

In other Avista news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 2,298 shares of Avista 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 12,539 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $485,886.25. The trade was a 15.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.