IDACORP, Inc. (NYSE:IDA) Short Interest Update

IDACORP, Inc. (NYSE:IDA) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 662,600 shares, a decrease of 9.5% from the October 15th total of 732,400 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 307,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.2 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in IDA. Sei Investments Co. raised its position in shares of IDACORP by 90.0% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 74,368 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $6,908,000 after purchasing an additional 35,217 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of IDACORP during the 1st quarter valued at $306,000. Jacobi Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of IDACORP by 17.5% during the 1st quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 3,450 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $320,000 after purchasing an additional 514 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd raised its position in shares of IDACORP by 587.0% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,271 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $118,000 after purchasing an additional 1,086 shares during the period. Finally, Pitcairn Co. raised its position in shares of IDACORP by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 4,332 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $402,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. 89.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of IDACORP from $106.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of IDACORP in a research note on Friday, September 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $110.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of IDACORP from $102.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Bank of America upgraded shares of IDACORP from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $113.00 to $117.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Mizuho upgraded shares of IDACORP from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $102.00 to $116.00 in a report on Friday, November 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $108.83.

IDACORP Stock Performance

IDA traded up $1.32 during trading on Monday, hitting $118.51. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 223,686 shares, compared to its average volume of 349,378. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. IDACORP has a one year low of $86.43 and a one year high of $119.65. The firm has a market cap of $6.31 billion, a PE ratio of 21.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.60. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $105.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $99.92.

IDACORP (NYSE:IDA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The energy company reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.17 by ($0.05). IDACORP had a return on equity of 9.17% and a net margin of 15.35%. The business had revenue of $528.53 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $524.39 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.07 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that IDACORP will post 5.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

IDACORP Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 5th will be given a $0.86 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 5th. This is an increase from IDACORP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.90%. IDACORP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.82%.

About IDACORP

IDACORP, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, distribution, purchase, and sale of electric energy in the United States. The company operates 17 hydropower generating plants located in southern Idaho and eastern Oregon; three natural gas-fired plants in southern Idaho; and interests in two coal-fired steam electric generating plants located in Wyoming and Nevada.