36,605 Shares in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) Acquired by A. D. Beadell Investment Counsel Inc.

A. D. Beadell Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 36,605 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,340,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Algert Global LLC increased its holdings in shares of Avista by 202.2% in the third quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 57,617 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,233,000 after buying an additional 38,550 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Avista by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 420,527 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $16,295,000 after acquiring an additional 34,829 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Avista by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,828,230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $70,857,000 after purchasing an additional 27,328 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Avista in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $5,638,000. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its stake in Avista by 0.4% in the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 3,551,460 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $122,916,000 after purchasing an additional 13,445 shares in the last quarter. 85.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Avista Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AVA traded down $1.17 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $35.37. 113,873 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 475,915. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.80 billion, a PE ratio of 14.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.49. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $37.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.48. Avista Co. has a 12 month low of $31.91 and a 12 month high of $39.99. 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) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $383.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $389.29 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.19 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Avista Co. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avista Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were paid a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 26th. Avista’s dividend payout ratio is presently 75.70%.

Avista 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.