Eastern Bank Has $67,000 Stake in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Eastern Bank grew its stake in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 309.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,842 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,392 shares during the period. Eastern Bank’s holdings in Avista were worth $67,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its stake in shares of Avista by 0.4% during the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 3,551,460 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $122,916,000 after buying an additional 13,445 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Avista by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,828,230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $70,857,000 after acquiring an additional 27,328 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Avista by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,534,341 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $53,103,000 after acquiring an additional 61,466 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Avista by 2.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,228,299 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $47,597,000 after purchasing an additional 26,706 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Avista by 9.0% during 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 in the last quarter. 85.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Avista Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of AVA opened at $35.98 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.85 billion, a PE ratio of 14.33, a PEG ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.49. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $37.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. Avista Co. has a 12 month low of $31.91 and a 12 month high of $39.99.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.10. Avista had a return on equity of 7.83% and a net margin of 10.24%. The business had revenue of $383.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $389.29 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.19 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Avista Co. will post 2.3 EPS for the current year.

Avista Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th were issued a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.28%. Avista’s payout ratio is 75.70%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Avista in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $40.00 price objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $36.75.

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.