Morgan Stanley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for IDACORP (NYSE:IDA) Stock

IDACORP (NYSE:IDA) had its target price boosted by Morgan Stanley from $110.00 to $121.00 in a research note released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the energy company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on IDA. Bank of America raised shares of IDACORP from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $113.00 to $117.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of IDACORP in a research report on Friday, September 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $110.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target 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 downgraded shares of IDACORP from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Mizuho upgraded IDACORP from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $102.00 to $116.00 in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $111.00.

IDACORP Price Performance

NYSE:IDA opened at $113.06 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $110.64 and a two-hundred day moving average of $102.55. IDACORP has a 12 month low of $86.43 and a 12 month high of $120.42. The firm has a market cap of $6.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93.

IDACORP (NYSE:IDA) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 9.17% and a net margin of 15.35%. The firm had revenue of $528.53 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $524.39 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.07 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that IDACORP will post 5.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

IDACORP Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 5th were issued a $0.86 dividend. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.04%. This is a positive change from IDACORP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 5th. IDACORP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.82%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On IDACORP

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC increased its position in shares of IDACORP by 5.8% during the third quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 231,743 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $23,890,000 after purchasing an additional 12,698 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its holdings in shares of IDACORP by 1.5% in the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 145,791 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $15,030,000 after acquiring an additional 2,120 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of IDACORP by 40.3% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 15,341 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $1,582,000 after acquiring an additional 4,409 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of IDACORP during the third quarter worth approximately $53,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of IDACORP by 46.9% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 9,178 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $946,000 after acquiring an additional 2,930 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.