Captrust Financial Advisors Purchases Shares of 5,922 Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Captrust Financial Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 5,922 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $229,000.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in Avista during the third quarter valued at $28,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Avista during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Avista during the 2nd quarter worth about $40,000. KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of Avista by 46.9% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,098 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $81,000 after purchasing an additional 670 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its position in shares of Avista by 256.6% during the 2nd quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 2,714 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $94,000 after purchasing an additional 1,953 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

Avista Stock Up 0.6 %

Avista stock opened at $36.71 on Monday. Avista Co. has a twelve month low of $31.91 and a twelve month high of $39.99. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $37.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $37.33. The company has a market capitalization of $2.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.63, a P/E/G ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.48. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $383.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $389.29 million. Avista had a net margin of 10.24% and a return on equity of 7.83%. Avista’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.19 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Avista Co. will post 2.3 EPS for the current year.

Avista Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th were issued a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.18%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 26th. Avista’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 75.70%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Avista in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $37.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group initiated 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $36.75.

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.