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

IDACORP, Inc. (NYSE:IDA) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,370,000 shares, a growth of 6.2% from the March 31st total of 1,290,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 393,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.5 days. Currently, 2.7% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Guggenheim cut IDACORP from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $93.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on IDACORP from $100.00 to $94.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 16th. StockNews.com upgraded IDACORP to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. TheStreet cut shares of IDACORP from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Mizuho cut their target price on shares of IDACORP from $99.00 to $88.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $93.80.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On IDACORP

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of IDACORP by 50.3% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,634,463 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $160,700,000 after acquiring an additional 546,818 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of IDACORP by 29.7% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,194,847 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $117,477,000 after purchasing an additional 273,560 shares in the last quarter. American Trust grew its position in shares of IDACORP by 13.7% during the third quarter. American Trust now owns 828,208 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $77,562,000 after purchasing an additional 100,016 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of IDACORP by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 761,621 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $74,883,000 after purchasing an additional 7,008 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of IDACORP by 10.5% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 649,195 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $63,829,000 after buying an additional 61,546 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.10% of the company’s stock.

IDACORP Stock Up 1.3 %

NYSE IDA opened at $96.00 on Thursday. IDACORP has a 52 week low of $86.43 and a 52 week high of $112.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The company has a market capitalization of $4.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.68 and a beta of 0.55. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $91.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $93.97.

IDACORP (NYSE:IDA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The energy company reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.01. IDACORP had a net margin of 14.79% and a return on equity of 9.06%. The company had revenue of $411.95 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $429.84 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.83 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that IDACORP will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

IDACORP Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Investors of record on Monday, May 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 3rd. IDACORP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.59%.

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.