San Luis Wealth Advisors LLC Invests $685,000 in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

San Luis Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 18,711 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $685,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Avista in the 2nd quarter worth $40,000. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp boosted its holdings in Avista by 5.2% in the second quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 71,250 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,466,000 after acquiring an additional 3,538 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Avista by 3.8% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 236,954 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,201,000 after acquiring an additional 8,748 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Avista by 20.0% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 208,611 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,220,000 after acquiring an additional 34,762 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WINTON GROUP Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Avista by 124.2% during the second quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 26,120 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $904,000 after acquiring an additional 14,471 shares in the last quarter. 85.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Avista Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AVA opened at $35.98 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. Avista Co. has a twelve month low of $31.91 and a twelve month high of $39.99. The company’s 50 day moving average is $37.15 and its 200 day moving average is $37.55. The company has a market cap of $2.85 billion, a PE ratio of 14.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.49.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.10. Avista had a return on equity of 7.83% and a net margin of 10.24%. The company had revenue of $383.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $389.29 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.19 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Avista Co. will post 2.3 EPS for the current year.

Avista Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were paid a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.28%. Avista’s payout ratio is 75.70%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Avista in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $40.00 target price for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $36.75.

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.