Millennium Management LLC Buys 165,125 Shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 317.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 217,113 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 165,125 shares during the quarter. Millennium Management LLC owned 0.27% of Avista worth $7,953,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Avista during the 4th quarter worth $27,139,000. Demars Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Avista during the fourth quarter worth about $21,047,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Avista by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,260,857 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $375,855,000 after purchasing an additional 327,535 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Avista by 27.2% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,283,532 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $47,016,000 after buying an additional 274,270 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RWC Asset Management LLP lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 222,500 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Avista Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of Avista stock opened at $38.50 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $3.10 billion, a PE ratio of 15.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42. Avista Co. has a 1 year low of $33.45 and a 1 year high of $43.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $40.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.51.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $603.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $636.30 million. Avista had a net margin of 10.24% and a return on equity of 7.83%. Avista’s quarterly revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.91 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Avista Co. will post 2.3 EPS for the current year.

Avista Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be given a dividend of $0.49 per share. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 13th. Avista’s dividend payout ratio is currently 83.76%.

Insider Transactions at Avista

In related news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 2,298 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 12,539 shares in the company, valued at approximately $485,886.25. This represents a 15.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Avista 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.