IDACORP, Inc. (NYSE:IDA) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

IDACORP, Inc. (NYSE:IDA) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $118.20.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on IDA. Bank of America boosted their target price on IDACORP from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on IDACORP from $110.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on IDACORP from $129.00 to $118.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Guggenheim upgraded IDACORP from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded IDACORP from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On IDACORP

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in IDACORP by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,046,723 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $660,786,000 after purchasing an additional 77,230 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in IDACORP by 43.3% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,424,956 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $374,279,000 after purchasing an additional 1,035,133 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in IDACORP by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,909,695 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $208,692,000 after buying an additional 166,864 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in IDACORP by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,656,697 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $170,789,000 after buying an additional 86,642 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in IDACORP by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,379,408 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $150,742,000 after buying an additional 29,094 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.10% of the company’s stock.

IDACORP Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE IDA opened at $113.78 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $110.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $108.71. The firm has a market cap of $6.14 billion, a PE ratio of 20.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.65. IDACORP has a twelve month low of $87.51 and a twelve month high of $120.42.

IDACORP (NYSE:IDA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The energy company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.07. IDACORP had a return on equity of 9.23% and a net margin of 15.83%. The business had revenue of $398.13 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $403.21 million. Analysts expect that IDACORP will post 5.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

IDACORP Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 5th were issued a $0.86 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 5th. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.02%. IDACORP’s payout ratio is 62.77%.

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.