70,956 Shares in Avista Corporation $AVA Bought by Magellan Asset Management Ltd

Magellan Asset Management Ltd purchased a new stake in Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 70,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,903,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in shares of Avista by 5.3% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 65,494 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,741,000 after buying an additional 3,296 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Avista by 11.1% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 69,831 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,924,000 after buying an additional 6,967 shares during the period. United Services Automobile Association acquired a new position in Avista during the 1st quarter worth approximately $201,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in Avista by 26.0% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 283,182 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,857,000 after acquiring an additional 58,504 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio bought a new position in Avista in the first quarter worth approximately $134,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AVA has been the subject of several recent research reports. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Avista from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Zacks Research upgraded Avista from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Avista from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Avista from $40.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $39.25.

Avista Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AVA opened at $37.62 on Monday. Avista Corporation has a twelve month low of $35.50 and a twelve month high of $43.50. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $40.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $40.81. The company has a market capitalization of $3.15 billion, a PE ratio of 13.58, a PEG ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.20. Avista had a net margin of 11.83% and a return on equity of 7.85%. The company had revenue of $413.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $426.93 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.17 EPS. Avista’s quarterly revenue was up .5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Avista Corporation will post 2.58 EPS for the current year.

Avista Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 18th will be given a $0.4925 dividend. This represents a $1.97 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.2%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 18th. Avista’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 71.12%.

Avista Profile

Avista Corporation operates as an integrated energy company providing electric and natural gas delivery services to residential, commercial and industrial customers in the Pacific Northwest. Through its regulated utility operations, the company maintains and upgrades an extensive transmission and distribution network, delivering reliable energy to approximately 400,000 electric customers and 324,000 natural gas customers across Washington, Oregon and Idaho. In addition to its core utility business, Avista invests in owned generation assets, including hydroelectric, natural gas–fired, coal and wind facilities, to support system reliability and long-term supply planning.

Founded in 1889 as the Spokane and Inland Empire Water Power Company, the business adopted the Avista name in 1999 to reflect its growing energy portfolio and strategic focus on innovation.