Meeder Advisory Services Inc. Grows Stock Position in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Meeder Advisory Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 5.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 18,081 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 898 shares during the period. Meeder Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Avista were worth $701,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL grew its position in Avista by 44.2% during the 1st quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 269,120 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,425,000 after purchasing an additional 82,500 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Avista by 109.6% in the 2nd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 34,015 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,177,000 after acquiring an additional 17,784 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Avista by 57.2% in the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 188,124 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,588,000 after acquiring an additional 68,441 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in Avista by 383.0% during the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 27,941 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $967,000 after purchasing an additional 22,156 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Avista by 9.0% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 420,527 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $16,295,000 after purchasing an additional 34,829 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

Avista Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE AVA opened at $38.74 on Wednesday. Avista Co. has a 1 year low of $31.91 and a 1 year high of $39.99. 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 capitalization of $3.07 billion, a PE ratio of 15.43, a P/E/G ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a fifty day moving average of $37.93 and a 200 day moving average of $37.29.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last issued 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. The firm had revenue of $383.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $389.29 million. Avista had a return on equity of 7.83% and a net margin of 10.24%. The company’s revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.19 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Avista Co. will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be paid a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.90%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. Avista’s dividend payout ratio is currently 75.70%.

Insider Activity at Avista

In other Avista news, VP David J. Meyer sold 2,400 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 5,436 shares in the company, valued at approximately $208,307.52. This represents a 30.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.