IDACORP, Inc. (NYSE:IDA) Short Interest Down 9.5% in October

IDACORP, Inc. (NYSE:IDA) was the target of a large decline in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 662,600 shares, a decline of 9.5% from the October 15th total of 732,400 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 307,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.2 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On IDACORP

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of IDA. M&T Bank Corp raised its position in shares of IDACORP by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 10,992 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $1,133,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the period. Trust Point Inc. raised its holdings in IDACORP by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 7,374 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $760,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the period. Pitcairn Co. lifted its position in IDACORP by 2.4% in the first quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 4,332 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $402,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in IDACORP by 7.5% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,523 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $157,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Trust N.A. increased its position in shares of IDACORP by 1.7% during the second quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 6,411 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $597,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. 89.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on IDA shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on IDACORP from $106.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of IDACORP from $102.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of IDACORP in a research report on Friday, September 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $110.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America upgraded IDACORP from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $113.00 to $117.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Mizuho raised shares of IDACORP from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $102.00 to $116.00 in a report on Friday, November 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $108.83.

IDACORP Price Performance

IDA stock traded down $1.20 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $117.36. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 16,559 shares, compared to its average volume of 347,881. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The company’s 50 day moving average is $105.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $99.92. IDACORP has a fifty-two week low of $86.43 and a fifty-two week high of $119.65. The stock has a market cap of $6.25 billion, a PE ratio of 21.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.60.

IDACORP (NYSE:IDA) last posted 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). The company had revenue of $528.53 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $524.39 million. IDACORP had a net margin of 15.35% and a return on equity of 9.17%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.07 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that IDACORP will post 5.41 EPS for the current year.

IDACORP Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 5th will be given a dividend of $0.86 per share. This is a boost from IDACORP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.93%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 5th. IDACORP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.82%.

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.