Demars Financial Group LLC Acquires New Shares in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Demars Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 574,587 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $21,047,000. Demars Financial Group LLC owned approximately 0.73% of Avista at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in Avista in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,139,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Avista by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,260,857 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $375,855,000 after acquiring an additional 327,535 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Avista by 27.2% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,283,532 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $47,016,000 after acquiring an additional 274,270 shares in the last quarter. RWC Asset Management LLP grew its position in Avista by 70.4% during the 4th quarter. RWC Asset Management LLP now owns 538,517 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $19,726,000 after acquiring an additional 222,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Avista in the 4th quarter worth about $7,875,000. Institutional investors own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 2,298 shares of the business’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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 12,539 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $485,886.25. The trade was a 15.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Avista Stock Performance

NYSE AVA opened at $41.65 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.59, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.38. Avista Co. has a twelve month low of $33.22 and a twelve month high of $43.09. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.02. 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 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 company had revenue of $517.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $487.48 million. Sell-side analysts expect that Avista Co. will post 2.3 EPS for the current year.

Avista Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were given a $0.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.71%. This is an increase from Avista’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Avista’s payout ratio is 86.34%.

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.