WINTON GROUP Ltd Buys 1,571 Shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

WINTON GROUP Ltd lifted its position in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 5.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 29,032 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,571 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd’s holdings in Avista were worth $1,063,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Avista by 70.6% during the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 22,760 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $882,000 after buying an additional 9,418 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Avista by 2.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,228,299 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $47,597,000 after acquiring an additional 26,706 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. grew its holdings in Avista by 30.7% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 176,459 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,838,000 after acquiring an additional 41,431 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its position in Avista by 12.2% during the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 9,557 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $370,000 after purchasing an additional 1,041 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Avista by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 17,430 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $675,000 after purchasing an additional 707 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Avista from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th.

Avista Price Performance

Shares of AVA stock opened at $40.90 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $38.23 and its 200 day moving average is $37.77. Avista Co. has a 1-year low of $33.00 and a 1-year high of $41.01. 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 $3.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.29, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.46.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by ($0.02). Avista had a return on equity of 7.83% and a net margin of 10.24%. The firm had revenue of $517.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $487.48 million. Research analysts predict that Avista Co. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avista Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were issued a dividend of $0.49 per share. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.79%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 26th. This is a positive change from Avista’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Avista’s dividend payout ratio is currently 86.34%.

Insider Transactions at Avista

In other Avista news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 2,298 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.75, for a total value of $89,047.50. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 12,539 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $485,886.25. This trade represents a 15.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

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.