Short Interest in IDACORP, Inc. (NYSE:IDA) Drops By 9.5%

IDACORP, Inc. (NYSE:IDA) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in the month of 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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

IDA has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America raised shares of IDACORP from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $113.00 to $117.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com cut shares of IDACORP from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of IDACORP in a research note on Friday, September 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $110.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of IDACORP from $106.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of IDACORP from $102.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $108.83.

IDACORP Trading Up 1.1 %

IDACORP stock traded up $1.32 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $118.51. 223,686 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 349,378. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.99, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.60. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $105.52 and its 200-day moving average is $99.92. IDACORP has a fifty-two week low of $86.43 and a fifty-two week high of $119.65.

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

IDACORP Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors 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 represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.90%. This is a boost from IDACORP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. IDACORP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.82%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Clean Energy Transition LLP bought a new stake in IDACORP in the second quarter worth approximately $49,103,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in IDACORP by 17.7% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,389,823 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $246,367,000 after purchasing an additional 359,553 shares during the last quarter. Nuance Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of IDACORP by 19.0% during the 2nd quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 1,114,475 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $103,813,000 after buying an additional 178,294 shares during the last quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. lifted its position in shares of IDACORP by 30.8% during the 2nd quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 576,136 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $53,667,000 after buying an additional 135,793 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of IDACORP by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,656,697 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $170,789,000 after buying an additional 86,642 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.10% of the company’s stock.

IDACORP Company Profile

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.