Farther Finance Advisors LLC Grows Stock Position in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 16.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,145 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,439 shares during the quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC’s holdings in Avista were worth $372,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVA. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Avista by 117.8% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 858 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 464 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in Avista by 296.7% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 715 shares during the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Avista by 45.3% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,462 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 456 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in Avista by 43.0% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,723 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 518 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eastern Bank lifted its stake in Avista by 309.3% in the 4th quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 1,842 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 1,392 shares in the last quarter. 85.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Avista Price Performance

Avista stock opened at $40.01 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The stock has a market cap of $3.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.94, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $37.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.68. Avista Co. has a 12-month low of $33.00 and a 12-month high of $40.23.

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

Avista Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 26th. This is a boost from Avista’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.90%. Avista’s dividend payout ratio is currently 86.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Avista news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 2,298 shares of Avista stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.75, for a total transaction of $89,047.50. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 12,539 shares in the company, valued at $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 is available at the SEC website. Corporate 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.