Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Trims Stake in IDACORP, Inc. (NYSE:IDA)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC trimmed its position in IDACORP, Inc. (NYSE:IDA) by 5.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,518 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 1,069 shares during the quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in IDACORP were worth $1,914,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Diversified Trust Co bought a new position in IDACORP in the fourth quarter worth about $704,000. Algert Global LLC raised its stake in shares of IDACORP by 42.5% during the 3rd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 35,383 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $3,648,000 after acquiring an additional 10,550 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its position in IDACORP by 67.8% during the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 47,707 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $4,918,000 after acquiring an additional 19,274 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new stake in IDACORP during the third quarter valued at approximately $3,228,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in IDACORP by 5.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 692,293 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $71,368,000 after purchasing an additional 35,651 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.10% of the company’s stock.

IDACORP Stock Performance

NYSE IDA opened at $110.03 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.41, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.65. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $111.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $106.64. 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 fifty-two week low of $86.43 and a fifty-two week high of $120.42.

IDACORP (NYSE:IDA) last posted its 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 firm had revenue of $528.53 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 prior year, the firm earned $2.07 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that IDACORP, Inc. will post 5.41 earnings per share for the current year.

IDACORP Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.86 per share. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 5th. IDACORP’s payout ratio is currently 63.82%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on IDA shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on IDACORP from $110.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Mizuho upgraded shares of IDACORP from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $102.00 to $116.00 in a report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America upgraded shares of IDACORP from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $113.00 to $117.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective 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. Finally, Guggenheim raised IDACORP from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $116.20.

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.