IDACORP (NYSE:IDA) Reaches New 1-Year High – Here’s What Happened

Shares of IDACORP, Inc. (NYSE:IDA) reached a new 52-week high on Friday . The stock traded as high as $119.81 and last traded at $119.81, with a volume of 9329 shares. The stock had previously closed at $118.80.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

IDA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their target price 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. Mizuho upgraded shares of IDACORP from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $102.00 to $116.00 in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on IDACORP in a report on Friday, September 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $110.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America raised IDACORP from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $113.00 to $117.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered IDACORP from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $108.83.

IDACORP Price Performance

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $106.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $100.51. The company has a market cap of $6.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.06, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.60. 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, October 31st. The energy company reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.17 by ($0.05). IDACORP had a return on equity of 9.17% and a net margin of 15.35%. The company had revenue of $528.53 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $524.39 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.07 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that IDACORP, Inc. will post 5.42 earnings per share for the current year.

IDACORP Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 5th will be issued a $0.86 dividend. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.89%. This is a boost from IDACORP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 5th. IDACORP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.82%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On IDACORP

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in IDACORP by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 950,206 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $97,981,000 after purchasing an additional 36,063 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp grew its holdings in shares of IDACORP by 0.8% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 10,992 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $1,133,000 after buying an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of IDACORP by 90.9% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 27,184 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $2,803,000 after buying an additional 12,944 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in IDACORP during the third quarter valued at $25,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in IDACORP by 17.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,389,823 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $246,367,000 after acquiring an additional 359,553 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.