IDACORP, Inc. (NYSE:IDA) Short Interest Up 67.5% in November

IDACORP, Inc. (NYSE:IDA) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,110,000 shares, a growth 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.

IDACORP Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE:IDA opened at $118.47 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $108.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $101.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The stock has a market cap of $6.31 billion, a PE ratio of 21.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.60. IDACORP has a fifty-two week low of $86.43 and a fifty-two week high of $120.42.

IDACORP (NYSE:IDA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The energy company reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.17 by ($0.05). IDACORP had a net margin of 15.35% and a return on equity of 9.17%. The company had revenue of $528.53 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $524.39 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.07 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that IDACORP will post 5.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

IDACORP Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.86 per share. This is a positive change from IDACORP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 5th. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.90%. IDACORP’s dividend payout ratio is 63.82%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Clean Energy Transition LLP acquired a new position in IDACORP during the second quarter valued at approximately $49,103,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in IDACORP by 17.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,389,823 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $246,367,000 after acquiring an additional 359,553 shares during the period. Nuance Investments LLC raised its holdings in IDACORP by 19.0% in the 2nd quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 1,114,475 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $103,813,000 after acquiring an additional 178,294 shares during the period. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. lifted its position in IDACORP by 30.8% during the 2nd quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 576,136 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $53,667,000 after acquiring an additional 135,793 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its position in shares of IDACORP by 5.5% in 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 last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

IDA has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped 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. StockNews.com downgraded IDACORP from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America upgraded shares of IDACORP from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $113.00 to $117.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of IDACORP in a report on Friday, September 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $110.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on IDACORP from $106.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, IDACORP currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $108.83.

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.