Sound Income Strategies LLC Buys New Position in Avista Corporation $AVA

Sound Income Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 183,688 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $7,381,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Avista by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,835,413 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $409,687,000 after purchasing an additional 170,388 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Avista by 8.3% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,191,896 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $197,032,000 after purchasing an additional 398,446 shares during the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. grew its stake in Avista by 52.7% during the 2nd quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 2,110,711 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $80,101,000 after purchasing an additional 728,543 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Avista by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,506,699 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $56,967,000 after purchasing an additional 6,567 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in Avista by 359.4% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,282,508 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,492,000 after purchasing an additional 1,003,362 shares during the last quarter. 85.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Avista

In other news, SVP Bryan Alden Cox sold 1,768 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.18, for a total value of $71,038.24. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 8,401 shares in the company, valued at $337,552.18. This represents a 17.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.96% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Avista Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of AVA opened at $40.98 on Tuesday. Avista Corporation has a 52 week low of $35.50 and a 52 week high of $43.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The company has a market capitalization of $3.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.22, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.23. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $40.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $39.60.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last issued its earnings results on Saturday, January 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter. Avista had a return on equity of 7.29% and a net margin of 9.83%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Avista Corporation will post 2.3 EPS for the current year.

Avista Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 25th were paid a $0.4925 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 25th. This is a positive change from Avista’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $1.97 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.8%. Avista’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 82.77%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on AVA shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded Avista from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 28th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Avista from $41.00 to $39.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Avista from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Avista from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Avista in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $39.50.

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.