Ergoteles LLC Makes New Investment in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Ergoteles LLC acquired a new position in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA – Get Rating) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 6,649 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $246,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AVA. Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Avista by 86.3% in the 3rd quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 515,506 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $19,100,000 after acquiring an additional 238,745 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its holdings in shares of Avista by 241,900.0% in the 3rd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 24,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $897,000 after acquiring an additional 24,190 shares during the last quarter. AXA S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Avista by 61.5% in the 3rd quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 18,900 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $700,000 after acquiring an additional 7,200 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new stake in shares of Avista in the 3rd quarter worth about $548,000. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Avista by 27.7% in the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 35,101 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,300,000 after acquiring an additional 7,605 shares during the last quarter. 82.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AVA has been the subject of several analyst reports. TheStreet upgraded shares of Avista from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 22nd. Mizuho lowered shares of Avista from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $45.00 to $38.00 in a report on Thursday, February 9th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Avista from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 8th.

Insider Transactions at Avista

In other news, VP Bryan Alden Cox sold 2,542 shares of Avista stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.30, for a total value of $104,984.60. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 4,698 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $194,027.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

Avista Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE:AVA opened at $41.53 on Monday. Avista Co. has a one year low of $35.72 and a one year high of $46.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.75. The firm has a market cap of $3.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.59, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.49. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $41.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.77.

Avista (NYSE:AVA – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 22nd. The utilities provider reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.33. Avista had a net margin of 9.14% and a return on equity of 6.87%. The firm had revenue of $496.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $371.59 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.71 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Avista Co. will post 2.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avista Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 17th will be given a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 16th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.43%. This is an increase from Avista’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. Avista’s payout ratio is presently 86.79%.

Avista Profile

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Avista Corp. is a holding company, which engages in the provision of electric and natural gas utility business. It operates through the Avista Utilities, and Alaska Electric Light and Power Company (AEL&P) segments. The Avista Utilities segment includes electric distribution and transmission, and natural gas distribution services in parts of eastern Washington, Northern Idaho, and Northeastern and Southwestern Oregon.