The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Purchases Shares of 39,529 Avista Corporation $AVA

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new stake in Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 39,529 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,617,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in shares of Avista by 90.7% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 637 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 303 shares during the period. Bayban acquired a new position in shares of Avista in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Avista in the second quarter worth $37,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC bought a new stake in Avista during the 2nd quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Aquatic Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Avista during the third quarter valued at approximately $43,000. 85.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Avista news, VP Joshua D. Diluciano sold 4,675 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.24, for a total transaction of $174,097.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 8,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.78% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Avista Stock Performance

Shares of AVA stock opened at $37.60 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 1.10. The company has a market capitalization of $3.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.57, a PEG ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.25. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $39.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $40.54. Avista Corporation has a 52 week low of $35.50 and a 52 week high of $43.50.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $413.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $426.93 million. Avista had a return on equity of 7.85% and a net margin of 11.83%.The company’s revenue was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.17 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Avista Corporation will post 2.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

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

Avista Company 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.