Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB Makes New Investment in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 4,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $155,000.

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

Avista Price Performance

Shares of AVA opened at $35.46 on Thursday. Avista Co. has a twelve month low of $31.91 and a twelve month high of $39.99. The company has a market capitalization of $2.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.48. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $37.73 and a 200 day moving average of $37.32. 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 posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.13 by $0.10. Avista had a return on equity of 7.83% and a net margin of 10.24%. The business had revenue of $383.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $389.29 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.19 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Avista Co. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avista Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 26th. Avista’s payout ratio is presently 75.70%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on AVA. Bank of America assumed coverage on Avista in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $37.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Avista in a research report on Monday, December 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $40.00 price target for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average 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.