Jennison Associates LLC Takes Position in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Jennison Associates LLC purchased a new position in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 29,236 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,133,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AVA. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in shares of Avista in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Avista in the third quarter valued at $29,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in Avista during the 2nd quarter valued at $40,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in Avista during the 1st quarter worth $73,000. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its position 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 worth $81,000 after purchasing an additional 670 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Avista in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $37.00 price target on the stock.

Avista Stock Performance

Avista stock opened at $39.13 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.10 billion, a PE ratio of 15.59, a P/E/G ratio of 4.27 and a beta of 0.47. Avista Co. has a 12 month low of $31.91 and a 12 month high of $39.99. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $37.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $37.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.48.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.13 by $0.10. Avista had a net margin of 10.24% and a return on equity of 7.83%. The business had revenue of $383.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $389.29 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.19 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Avista Co. will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be given a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.86%. Avista’s dividend payout ratio is currently 75.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP David J. Meyer sold 2,400 shares of Avista stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.32, for a total value of $91,968.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,436 shares in the company, valued at $208,307.52. This trade represents a 30.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.96% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.