State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System Buys 360 Shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA – Get Rating) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 20,949 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 360 shares during the period. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System’s holdings in Avista were worth $929,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AVA. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Avista by 27.0% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,311,667 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $149,522,000 after purchasing an additional 704,947 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Avista by 189.9% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 641,007 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $23,749,000 after purchasing an additional 419,864 shares in the last quarter. PATRIZIA Pty Ltd acquired a new stake in Avista during the 4th quarter valued at $12,492,000. Nuveen Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Avista by 86.3% during the 3rd quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 515,506 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $19,100,000 after purchasing an additional 238,745 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Avista by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,839,530 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $327,504,000 after purchasing an additional 228,077 shares in the last quarter. 82.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Avista Stock Down 1.4 %

NYSE AVA opened at $43.03 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $43.00 and a 200-day moving average of $41.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.51. Avista Co. has a 52 week low of $35.72 and a 52 week high of $45.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.08.

Avista (NYSE:AVA – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 3rd. The utilities provider reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.16 by ($0.43). Avista had a return on equity of 6.02% and a net margin of 8.04%. The company had revenue of $474.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $485.37 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.99 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Avista Co. will post 2.32 EPS for the current year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 26th will be given a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 25th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.28%. Avista’s dividend payout ratio is currently 98.93%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AVA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. TheStreet raised Avista from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 22nd. Mizuho cut Avista from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $45.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 9th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Avista from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 3rd.

Insider Transactions at Avista

In other news, VP Bryan Alden Cox sold 2,542 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.30, for a total value of $104,984.60. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 4,698 shares in the company, valued at approximately $194,027.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Avista

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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.