IDACORP (NYSE:IDA) Stock Rating Upgraded by Jefferies Financial Group

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

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

IDACORP Stock Performance

Shares of IDA opened at $119.27 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $113.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $110.49. The stock has a market cap of $6.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.76, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.59. IDACORP has a 12-month low of $88.70 and a 12-month high of $120.42. 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 (NYSE:IDA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The energy company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $398.13 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $403.21 million. IDACORP had a return on equity of 9.23% and a net margin of 15.83%. As a group, research analysts predict that IDACORP will post 5.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

IDACORP Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th were issued a dividend of $0.86 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 5th. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.88%. IDACORP’s payout ratio is 62.77%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of IDACORP by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,046,723 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $660,786,000 after purchasing an additional 77,230 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised 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 valued at $374,279,000 after buying an additional 1,035,133 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in IDACORP by 9.6% during 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 buying an additional 166,864 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake 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 buying an additional 86,642 shares during the period. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its position in shares of IDACORP by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,379,408 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $150,742,000 after acquiring an additional 29,094 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.10% of the company’s stock.

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.