Prudential Financial Inc. Has $37.33 Million Stake in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Prudential Financial Inc. increased its stake in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 10.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,019,177 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 94,460 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. owned approximately 1.29% of Avista worth $37,332,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Avista by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,260,857 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $375,855,000 after buying an additional 327,535 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Avista by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,828,230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $70,857,000 after acquiring an additional 27,328 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Avista by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,253,280 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $45,908,000 after acquiring an additional 24,981 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Avista by 16.6% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,184,838 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $43,401,000 after purchasing an additional 168,648 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RWC Asset Management LLP increased its stake in shares of Avista by 70.4% in the fourth quarter. RWC Asset Management LLP now owns 538,517 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $19,726,000 after purchasing an additional 222,500 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

Avista Price Performance

Shares of Avista stock opened at $39.73 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $38.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $37.72. Avista Co. has a fifty-two week low of $33.00 and a fifty-two week high of $40.23. 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 company has a market cap of $3.18 billion, a PE ratio of 15.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.46.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.86 by ($0.02). Avista had a net margin of 10.24% and a return on equity of 7.83%. The firm had revenue of $517.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $487.48 million. Analysts expect that Avista Co. will post 2.3 EPS for the current year.

Avista Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were paid a dividend of $0.49 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.93%. This is an increase from Avista’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Avista’s payout ratio is currently 86.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Avista

In other news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 2,298 shares of Avista stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.75, for a total transaction of $89,047.50. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 12,539 shares in the company, valued at approximately $485,886.25. The trade was a 15.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

About Avista

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.