JPMorgan Chase & Co. Grows Holdings in Avista Corporation $AVA

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA) by 31.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 356,035 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 86,145 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned 0.44% of Avista worth $13,462,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new position in Avista during the third quarter worth $26,000. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Avista by 54.8% in the 2nd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 884 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 313 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Avista during the 2nd quarter worth about $37,000. Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in Avista by 51.7% during the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,585 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 540 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Avista by 30.1% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,769 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 409 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

Avista Price Performance

Shares of AVA opened at $40.37 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.96, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.28. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $40.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $39.06. Avista Corporation has a twelve month low of $35.50 and a twelve month high of $43.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04.

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 net margin of 9.83% and a return on equity of 7.29%. Equities analysts forecast that Avista Corporation will post 2.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avista Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 25th will be given a dividend of $0.4925 per share. This is a boost from Avista’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 25th. This represents a $1.97 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.9%. Avista’s dividend payout ratio is 82.77%.

Insider Activity at Avista

In other Avista news, SVP Bryan Alden Cox sold 1,768 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.18, for a total value of $71,038.24. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Wayne O. Manuel sold 1,785 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.74, for a total transaction of $69,150.90. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 9,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $382,867.42. This represents a 15.30% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.96% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on AVA shares. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Avista from $41.00 to $39.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Avista from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Avista from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Mizuho set a $42.00 price objective on Avista in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Avista in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $39.33.

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.