Quantbot Technologies LP Invests $2.37 Million in Avista Corporation $AVA

Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 57,861 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,367,000. Quantbot Technologies LP owned approximately 0.07% of Avista at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AVA. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Avista during the second quarter worth $605,448,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Avista by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,933,633 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $421,382,000 after acquiring an additional 98,220 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Avista by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,305,266 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $204,465,000 after acquiring an additional 45,696 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Avista by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,985,944 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $76,550,000 after acquiring an additional 7,793 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley grew its position in Avista by 16.6% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,807,397 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $69,657,000 after acquiring an additional 257,834 shares during the last quarter. 85.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Zacks Research raised Avista from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Mizuho lifted their price target on Avista from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Barclays reduced their price target on Avista from $40.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Avista from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Avista currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $39.25.

Avista Price Performance

Shares of AVA opened at $37.95 on Tuesday. Avista Corporation has a 1 year low of $35.50 and a 1 year high of $43.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The company has a market capitalization of $3.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.25. The business has a 50-day moving average of $40.36 and a 200-day moving average of $40.78.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.20. Avista had a net margin of 11.83% and a return on equity of 7.85%. The business had revenue of $413.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $426.93 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.17 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Avista Corporation will post 2.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 18th will be given a dividend of $0.4925 per share. 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 is 71.12%.

About Avista

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.