Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Acquires Shares of 103,875 Avista Corporation $AVA

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new position in shares of Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 103,875 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,250,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio owned 0.12% of Avista at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in Avista by 5.3% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 65,494 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,741,000 after buying an additional 3,296 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Avista by 11.1% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 69,831 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,924,000 after acquiring an additional 6,967 shares during the period. United Services Automobile Association purchased a new stake in shares of Avista in the first quarter valued at about $201,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its stake in shares of Avista by 26.0% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 283,182 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,857,000 after acquiring an additional 58,504 shares during the period. Finally, Strs Ohio purchased a new position in Avista during the first quarter worth about $134,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings raised Avista from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Zacks Research raised Avista from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Avista from $40.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $39.25.

Avista Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of AVA opened at $37.60 on Friday. Avista Corporation has a 1-year low of $35.50 and a 1-year high of $43.50. The stock has a market cap of $3.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.25. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 0.69.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.20. Avista had a return on equity of 7.85% and a net margin of 11.83%.The business had revenue of $413.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $426.93 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.17 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Avista Corporation will post 2.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avista Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.4925 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 18th. This represents a $1.97 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.2%. Avista’s payout ratio is 71.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Avista

In other news, VP Joshua D. Diluciano sold 4,675 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.24, for a total value of $174,097.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 8,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $310,358.16. The trade was a 35.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.78% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Avista Profile

Avista Corporation operates as an integrated energy company providing electric and natural gas delivery services to residential, commercial and industrial customers in the Pacific Northwest. Through its regulated utility operations, the company maintains and upgrades an extensive transmission and distribution network, delivering reliable energy to approximately 400,000 electric customers and 324,000 natural gas customers across Washington, Oregon and Idaho. In addition to its core utility business, Avista invests in owned generation assets, including hydroelectric, natural gas–fired, coal and wind facilities, to support system reliability and long-term supply planning.

Founded in 1889 as the Spokane and Inland Empire Water Power Company, the business adopted the Avista name in 1999 to reflect its growing energy portfolio and strategic focus on innovation.