CWA Asset Management Group LLC Invests $1.67 Million in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

CWA Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 45,657 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,672,000.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of AVA. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Avista by 5.2% during the 2nd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 29,135 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,008,000 after acquiring an additional 1,447 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers grew its stake in shares of Avista by 0.8% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 259,692 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,988,000 after purchasing an additional 2,101 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its holdings in Avista by 2.9% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 21,888 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $758,000 after buying an additional 626 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Avista in the 2nd quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Texas Permanent School Fund Corp raised its position in shares of Avista by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 71,250 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,466,000 after acquiring an additional 3,538 shares during the period. 85.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Avista Trading Down 3.7 %

NYSE:AVA opened at $35.22 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $2.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.49. Avista Co. has a twelve month low of $31.91 and a twelve month high of $39.99. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $37.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $37.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.13 by $0.10. Avista had a net margin of 10.24% and a return on equity of 7.83%. The business had revenue of $383.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $389.29 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.19 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Avista Co. will post 2.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avista Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th were issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.39%. Avista’s payout ratio is presently 75.70%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AVA has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Avista in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $37.00 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Avista in a report on Monday, December 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $40.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Avista currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $36.75.

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.