Van ECK Associates Corp Buys 2,056 Shares of IDACORP, Inc. (NYSE:IDA)

Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of IDACORP, Inc. (NYSE:IDA) by 14.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 16,550 shares of the energy company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,056 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in IDACORP were worth $1,809,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. M&T Bank Corp boosted its position in IDACORP by 0.8% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 10,992 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $1,133,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co boosted its position in shares of IDACORP by 13.7% in the fourth quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 832 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $91,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of IDACORP by 7.5% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,523 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $157,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the period. Pitcairn Co. boosted its position in shares of IDACORP by 2.3% in the third quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 4,801 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $495,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the period. Finally, Perigon Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of IDACORP by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,827 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $311,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the period. 89.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on IDA. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of IDACORP from $110.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Guggenheim raised shares of IDACORP from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Mizuho raised shares of 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 report on Friday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of IDACORP from $129.00 to $118.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of IDACORP from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. One investment 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $116.20.

IDACORP Stock Performance

Shares of IDA stock opened at $113.98 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $109.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $107.91. IDACORP, Inc. has a one year low of $86.47 and a one year high of $120.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.07 billion, a PE ratio of 21.15, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.34.

IDACORP (NYSE:IDA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The energy company reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.07. IDACORP had a return on equity of 9.17% and a net margin of 15.35%. The business had revenue of $398.13 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $403.21 million. As a group, research analysts forecast that IDACORP, Inc. will post 5.41 earnings per share for the current year.

IDACORP Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 5th will be issued a $0.86 dividend. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.02%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 5th. IDACORP’s payout ratio is presently 63.82%.

IDACORP 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.