Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) Stake Decreased by Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio decreased its position in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 3.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 105,023 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 4,317 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio owned 0.13% of Avista worth $3,678,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Avista by 11.8% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 55,340 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,939,000 after purchasing an additional 5,849 shares during the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC increased its stake in Avista by 1.9% in the first quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 426,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $14,919,000 after acquiring an additional 8,000 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL grew its stake in Avista by 44.2% during the first quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 269,120 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,425,000 after buying an additional 82,500 shares during the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Avista by 10.1% during the first quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 1,904,651 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $66,701,000 after purchasing an additional 174,951 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Avista by 57.2% in the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 188,124 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,588,000 after buying an additional 68,441 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AVA shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Avista from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Mizuho raised shares of Avista from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $32.00 to $36.00 in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $35.00.

Avista Trading Up 1.1 %

AVA opened at $39.60 on Friday. Avista Co. has a fifty-two week low of $30.53 and a fifty-two week high of $39.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.43 and a beta of 0.46. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $35.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $35.12.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by ($0.09). Avista had a return on equity of 7.65% and a net margin of 9.96%. The firm had revenue of $594.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $469.34 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.73 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 29.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Avista Co. will post 2.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Latisha Diane Hill sold 1,700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.21, for a total value of $61,557.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 11,085 shares in the company, valued at $401,387.85. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Jason R. Thackston sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.98, for a total value of $92,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 32,506 shares in the company, valued at $1,202,071.88. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Latisha Diane Hill sold 1,700 shares of Avista stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.21, for a total transaction of $61,557.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 11,085 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $401,387.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 5,916 shares of company stock worth $215,268. Insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Avista 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.