Man Group plc Acquires Shares of 212,181 Avista Corporation $AVA

Man Group plc acquired a new stake in Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 212,181 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $8,680,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in Avista by 90.7% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 637 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 303 shares in the last quarter. Bayban bought a new position in shares of Avista during the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Avista in the 2nd quarter valued at $37,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Avista in the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Aquatic Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Avista in the 3rd quarter worth about $43,000. 85.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Avista Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of AVA opened at $37.62 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $40.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.15 billion, a PE ratio of 13.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.25. Avista Corporation has a 12-month low of $35.50 and a 12-month high of $43.50. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $413.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $426.93 million. Avista had a return on equity of 7.85% and a net margin of 11.83%.The company’s revenue was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.17 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Avista Corporation will post 2.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Avista Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Avista Company 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.