Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Buys 2,410 Shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its stake in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) by 5.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 43,675 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,410 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund owned 0.06% of Avista worth $1,600,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Avista by 23.3% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 26,687 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,034,000 after buying an additional 5,035 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. raised its holdings in Avista by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 6,330 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $245,000 after acquiring an additional 428 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in Avista by 75.2% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 14,775 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $573,000 after acquiring an additional 6,344 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Avista by 16.3% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 8,706 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $337,000 after purchasing an additional 1,218 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Avista by 56.4% during the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 53,197 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,061,000 after purchasing an additional 19,182 shares during the period. 85.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Avista Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of AVA opened at $39.92 on Friday. 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 company has a 50-day moving average price of $36.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $37.58. The stock has a market cap of $3.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.49. Avista Co. has a 12 month low of $32.70 and a 12 month high of $40.21.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by ($0.02). Avista had a net margin of 10.24% and a return on equity of 7.83%. The company had revenue of $517.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $487.48 million. Equities analysts predict that Avista Co. will post 2.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avista Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.49 per share. This is a positive change from Avista’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.91%. Avista’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 78.09%.

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.