D.A. Davidson & CO. Acquires 1,041 Shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its holdings in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 12.2% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 9,557 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,041 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Avista were worth $370,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Moors & Cabot Inc. boosted its stake in Avista by 4.0% in the second quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 10,031 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $347,000 after acquiring an additional 390 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its holdings in Avista by 6.8% during the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 6,696 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $232,000 after purchasing an additional 424 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its position in Avista by 7.3% in the third quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 6,330 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $245,000 after buying an additional 428 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Avista by 6.9% in the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,836 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $237,000 after buying an additional 442 shares during the period. Finally, Legato Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Avista by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC now owns 63,391 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,194,000 after buying an additional 593 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Bank of America initiated coverage on Avista in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $37.00 price objective for the company.

Avista Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE:AVA opened at $38.02 on Wednesday. Avista Co. has a 1 year low of $31.91 and a 1 year high of $39.99. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $37.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.34. 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 company has a market cap of $3.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.15, a P/E/G ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.48.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.13 by $0.10. Avista had a return on equity of 7.83% and a net margin of 10.24%. The business had revenue of $383.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $389.29 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.19 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Avista Co. will post 2.36 EPS for the current year.

Avista Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be paid a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. Avista’s dividend payout ratio is presently 75.70%.

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.