Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA - Free Report) by 290.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 137,408 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 102,231 shares during the period. Barclays PLC owned about 0.17% of Avista worth $5,325,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. purchased a new position in Avista in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Avista in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Avista in the 2nd quarter valued at $40,000. KBC Group NV raised its stake in Avista by 46.9% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,098 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $81,000 after acquiring an additional 670 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC lifted its position in Avista by 256.6% in the second quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 2,714 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $94,000 after acquiring an additional 1,953 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.24% of the company's stock.
Several brokerages have issued reports on AVA. Bank of America initiated coverage on Avista in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $37.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Avista in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They set a "hold" rating and a $40.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $36.75.
View Our Latest Report on AVA
Shares of NYSE:AVA opened at $36.19 on Friday. Avista Co. has a one year low of $31.91 and a one year high of $39.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.42, a PEG ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $37.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.75.
Avista (NYSE:AVA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $383.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $389.29 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.19 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Avista Co. will post 2.3 EPS for the current year.
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were given a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.25%. Avista's payout ratio is currently 75.70%.
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.
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