HighTower Advisors LLC Sells 2,195 Shares of IDACORP, Inc. (NYSE:IDA)

HighTower Advisors LLC trimmed its position in IDACORP, Inc. (NYSE:IDA) by 34.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,180 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 2,195 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in IDACORP were worth $430,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Trust Point Inc. boosted its position in IDACORP by 1.4% in the third quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 7,374 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $760,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of IDACORP by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,523 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $157,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the period. Raymond James Trust N.A. grew its position in IDACORP by 1.7% during the second quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 6,411 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $597,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the period. Pitcairn Co. grew its position in IDACORP by 2.3% during the third quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 4,801 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $495,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the period. Finally, Fortem Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in IDACORP by 1.2% during the second quarter. Fortem Financial Group LLC now owns 9,301 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $866,000 after buying an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.10% of the company’s stock.

IDACORP Price Performance

Shares of IDACORP stock opened at $108.78 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.70. IDACORP, Inc. has a 52-week low of $86.43 and a 52-week high of $120.42. The company has a fifty day moving average of $111.60 and a 200-day moving average of $102.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.64.

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

IDACORP Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 5th were issued a dividend of $0.86 per share. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 5th. This is an increase from IDACORP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. IDACORP’s payout ratio is currently 63.82%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on IDA shares. Bank of America upgraded shares of IDACORP from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $113.00 to $117.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Mizuho upgraded IDACORP from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $102.00 to $116.00 in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on IDACORP from $106.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com lowered IDACORP from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of IDACORP from $110.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $111.00.

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.