IDACORP (NYSE:IDA) Upgraded at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of IDACORP (NYSE:IDA) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports.

IDA has been the topic of several other reports. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of IDACORP from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on IDACORP from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. UBS Group increased their target price on IDACORP from $117.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Guggenheim raised IDACORP from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $120.50.

IDACORP Trading Down 4.4 %

IDACORP stock opened at $114.47 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $6.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.59. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $113.59 and a 200-day moving average of $110.63. 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 has a one year low of $88.70 and a one year high of $120.84.

IDACORP (NYSE:IDA) last issued its quarterly 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 9.23% and a net margin of 15.83%. The firm had revenue of $398.13 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $403.21 million. On average, equities analysts expect that IDACORP will post 5.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

IDACORP Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th were paid a $0.86 dividend. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 5th. IDACORP’s dividend payout ratio is 62.77%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On IDACORP

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of IDACORP by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,046,723 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $660,786,000 after buying an additional 77,230 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in IDACORP by 43.3% in the fourth 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% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,909,695 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $208,692,000 after purchasing an additional 166,864 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of IDACORP by 5.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,656,697 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $170,789,000 after purchasing an additional 86,642 shares during the period. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 29,094 shares in the last quarter. 89.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.