First Pacific Financial Makes New Investment in Avista Corporation $AVA

First Pacific Financial acquired a new position in Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 20,710 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $798,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Congress Asset Management Co. lifted its stake in shares of Avista by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 85,589 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,236,000 after buying an additional 295 shares in the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Avista by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 62,492 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,363,000 after buying an additional 339 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in Avista by 0.5% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 78,714 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,987,000 after acquiring an additional 379 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Avista by 1.7% in the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 23,839 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $901,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Avista by 30.1% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,769 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 409 shares in the last quarter. 85.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Avista

In related news, SVP Bryan Alden Cox sold 1,768 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.18, for a total value of $71,038.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 8,401 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $337,552.18. This trade represents a 17.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on AVA. Weiss Ratings upgraded Avista from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen cut Avista from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, March 28th. Barclays began coverage on shares of Avista in a report on Monday, March 9th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $40.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Avista from $41.00 to $39.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Avista in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Avista has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $39.50.

Avista Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of Avista stock opened at $41.31 on Friday. Avista Corporation has a twelve month low of $35.50 and a twelve month high of $43.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $40.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $39.48. The firm has a market cap of $3.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.36, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.23.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last posted its earnings results on Saturday, January 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter. Avista had a return on equity of 7.29% and a net margin of 9.83%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Avista Corporation will post 2.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avista Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 25th were given a dividend of $0.4925 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 25th. This represents a $1.97 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.8%. This is an increase from Avista’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. Avista’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.77%.

About Avista

Avista Corporation operates as an integrated energy company providing electric and natural gas delivery services to residential, commercial and industrial customers in the Pacific Northwest. Through its regulated utility operations, the company maintains and upgrades an extensive transmission and distribution network, delivering reliable energy to approximately 400,000 electric customers and 324,000 natural gas customers across Washington, Oregon and Idaho. In addition to its core utility business, Avista invests in owned generation assets, including hydroelectric, natural gas–fired, coal and wind facilities, to support system reliability and long-term supply planning.

Founded in 1889 as the Spokane and Inland Empire Water Power Company, the business adopted the Avista name in 1999 to reflect its growing energy portfolio and strategic focus on innovation.