Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA – Get Rating)'s stock price traded up 1.3% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $40.95 and last traded at $40.86. 1,105 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 100% from the average session volume of 351,472 shares. The stock had previously closed at $40.33.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Mizuho raised Avista from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $44.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday.

Avista Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $41.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $42.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 0.53.

Avista Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 19th were issued a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 18th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.25%. Avista's payout ratio is 85.44%.

Insider Transactions at Avista

In other news, SVP Jason R. Thackston sold 1,250 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.37, for a total value of $54,212.50. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 26,570 shares in the company, valued at $1,152,340.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.94% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Avista by 178.0% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,540 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 986 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Avista during the 1st quarter worth $84,000. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Avista during the 2nd quarter worth $83,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its holdings in Avista by 1,438.6% during the 1st quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,154 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $97,000 after purchasing an additional 2,014 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Avista by 913.0% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,259 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $98,000 after acquiring an additional 2,036 shares in the last quarter. 83.39% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Avista

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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.

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