Park Avenue Securities LLC Purchases 2,155 Shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its position in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 18.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 13,695 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,155 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Avista were worth $531,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Avista in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Mather Group LLC. bought a new stake in shares of Avista in the first quarter worth $32,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in Avista during the second quarter worth $40,000. Quarry LP grew its position in Avista by 67.9% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,179 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 477 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Avista in the 1st quarter valued at $73,000. 85.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Bank of America started coverage on shares of Avista in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $37.00 price objective for the company.

Avista Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE AVA opened at $37.59 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.94 billion, a PE ratio of 15.60, a PEG ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.47. Avista Co. has a 12 month low of $31.09 and a 12 month high of $39.99. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $38.32 and a 200-day moving average of $36.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $390.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $386.69 million. Avista had a net margin of 10.12% and a return on equity of 7.77%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.23 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Avista Co. will post 2.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd were given a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.05%. Avista’s payout ratio is 78.84%.

Insider Transactions at Avista

In related news, VP David J. Meyer sold 2,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.32, for a total value of $91,968.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 5,436 shares in the company, valued at approximately $208,307.52. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Avista

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.