Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) Shares Sold by Dean Investment Associates LLC

Dean Investment Associates LLC lessened its holdings in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 55.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 41,903 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 51,379 shares during the quarter. Dean Investment Associates LLC owned approximately 0.05% of Avista worth $1,535,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Avista by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,260,857 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $375,855,000 after acquiring an additional 327,535 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Avista by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,828,230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $70,857,000 after purchasing an additional 27,328 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Avista by 27.2% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,283,532 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $47,016,000 after purchasing an additional 274,270 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Avista by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,253,280 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,908,000 after buying an additional 24,981 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Avista by 16.6% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,184,838 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $43,401,000 after buying an additional 168,648 shares during the period. 85.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Activity at Avista

In other 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 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Avista Stock Up 0.5 %

AVA opened at $41.80 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $39.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.04. 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 cap of $3.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.38. Avista Co. has a 12 month low of $33.45 and a 12 month high of $43.09.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.84 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 analyst estimates of $487.48 million. Avista had a net margin of 10.24% and a return on equity of 7.83%. As a group, research analysts predict that Avista Co. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current 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 is a boost from Avista’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.69%. Avista’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 86.34%.

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.