Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. Purchases New Holdings in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. acquired a new position in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 137,435 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,034,000. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. owned about 0.17% of Avista at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AVA. Barclays PLC grew its position in Avista by 290.6% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 137,408 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,325,000 after buying an additional 102,231 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in Avista in the third quarter valued at about $155,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Avista by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 420,527 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $16,295,000 after acquiring an additional 34,829 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Avista by 43.0% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,723 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 518 shares during the period. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new position in Avista in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,672,000. Institutional investors own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Avista Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of AVA stock opened at $41.23 on Tuesday. Avista Co. has a 1 year low of $33.45 and a 1 year high of $43.09. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $39.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $38.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.43, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.38.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.86 by ($0.02). Avista had a return on equity of 7.83% and a net margin of 10.24%. The company had revenue of $517.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $487.48 million. As a group, analysts anticipate that Avista Co. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Avista Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were paid a $0.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 26th. This is a boost from Avista’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.75%. Avista’s dividend payout ratio is currently 86.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Avista

In related news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 2,298 shares of Avista stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.75, for a total transaction of $89,047.50. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 12,539 shares of the company’s stock, 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 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.