Geode Capital Management LLC Has $70.86 Million Holdings in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,828,230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 27,328 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC owned 2.31% of Avista worth $70,857,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Avista by 6.9% during the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,836 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $237,000 after acquiring an additional 442 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its position in shares of Avista by 6.8% during the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 6,696 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $232,000 after purchasing an additional 424 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Avista by 2.6% during the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 39,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,360,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Bailard Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Avista in the 2nd quarter valued at $658,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new stake in shares of Avista in the 2nd quarter valued at $749,000. Institutional investors own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on AVA shares. Bank of America initiated coverage on Avista in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $37.00 target price on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Avista in a report on Monday, December 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $40.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $36.75.

Avista Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AVA opened at $36.19 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $37.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.31. The firm has a market cap of $2.87 billion, a PE ratio of 14.42, a PEG ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. Avista Co. has a 1-year low of $31.91 and a 1-year high of $39.99.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.10. Avista had a return on equity of 7.83% and a net margin of 10.24%. The company had revenue of $383.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $389.29 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.19 earnings per share. Avista’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Avista Co. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were issued a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.25%. Avista’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 75.70%.

Avista Company 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.