IDACORP, Inc. (NYSE:IDA) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

IDACORP, Inc. (NYSE:IDA) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the six brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $111.00.

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of IDACORP from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of IDACORP in a research note on Friday, September 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $110.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America raised shares of IDACORP from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $113.00 to $117.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on IDACORP from $106.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on IDACORP from $110.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On IDACORP

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Clean Energy Transition LLP acquired a new position in IDACORP during the 2nd quarter valued at about $49,103,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of IDACORP by 17.7% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,389,823 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $246,367,000 after acquiring an additional 359,553 shares in the last quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. increased its stake in shares of IDACORP by 30.8% during the second quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 576,136 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $53,667,000 after acquiring an additional 135,793 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in IDACORP by 5.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,656,697 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $170,789,000 after purchasing an additional 86,642 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in IDACORP by 34.0% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 201,545 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $18,774,000 after purchasing an additional 51,178 shares during the period. 89.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

IDACORP Price Performance

IDA stock opened at $106.99 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $113.23 and a 200-day moving average of $105.06. The company has a market cap of $5.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.85, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.65. 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 has a 12-month low of $86.43 and a 12-month high of $120.42.

IDACORP (NYSE:IDA) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $528.53 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $524.39 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.07 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that IDACORP will post 5.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

IDACORP Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 5th were paid a $0.86 dividend. This is a boost from IDACORP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 5th. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.22%. IDACORP’s dividend payout ratio is presently 63.82%.

About IDACORP

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.