IDACORP, Inc. (NYSE:IDA) Short Interest Update

IDACORP, Inc. (NYSE:IDA) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,110,000 shares, an increase of 67.5% from the October 31st total of 662,600 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 327,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.4 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on IDA. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of IDACORP from $106.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com cut IDACORP from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on IDACORP from $102.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Mizuho raised IDACORP from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $102.00 to $116.00 in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of IDACORP in a report on Friday, September 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $110.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $108.83.

Institutional Trading of IDACORP

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of IDACORP by 1,020.9% during the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,253 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $209,000 after acquiring an additional 2,052 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in IDACORP by 4.1% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 55,144 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $5,123,000 after purchasing an additional 2,158 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of IDACORP in the first quarter valued at approximately $314,000. Tidal Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of IDACORP by 120.6% during the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 9,341 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $867,000 after buying an additional 5,106 shares during the period. Finally, Atria Investments Inc purchased a new position in shares of IDACORP during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,023,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.10% of the company’s stock.

IDACORP Price Performance

Shares of NYSE IDA opened at $118.47 on Friday. IDACORP has a 52 week low of $86.43 and a 52 week high of $120.42. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $108.25 and its 200 day moving average price is $101.21. 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 firm has a market cap of $6.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.60.

IDACORP (NYSE:IDA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The energy company reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.17 by ($0.05). IDACORP had a net margin of 15.35% and a return on equity of 9.17%. The business had revenue of $528.53 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $524.39 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.07 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that IDACORP will post 5.41 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 5th will be paid a $0.86 dividend. This is a boost from IDACORP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 5th. IDACORP’s payout ratio is currently 63.82%.

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.