ProShare Advisors LLC Has $8.43 Million Stake in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

ProShare Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 16.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 230,045 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 32,515 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC owned about 0.29% of Avista worth $8,427,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Avista by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,253,280 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,908,000 after buying an additional 24,981 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Avista by 44.0% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 480,744 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $17,610,000 after purchasing an additional 147,007 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Avista by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,260,857 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $375,855,000 after purchasing an additional 327,535 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Avista in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $561,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Avista in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,007,000. Institutional investors own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

Avista Price Performance

Shares of AVA stock opened at $38.93 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.51, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42. Avista Co. has a 12 month low of $33.45 and a 12 month high of $43.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $40.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.44.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $603.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $636.30 million. Avista had a return on equity of 7.83% and a net margin of 10.24%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.91 EPS. Research analysts expect that Avista Co. will post 2.3 EPS for the current year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be given a dividend of $0.49 per share. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 13th. Avista’s payout ratio is 83.76%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 2,298 shares of Avista stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.75, for a total transaction of $89,047.50. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 12,539 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $485,886.25. The trade was a 15.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.