Ameriprise Financial Inc. Acquires 324,866 Shares of IDACORP, Inc. (NYSE:IDA)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in IDACORP, Inc. (NYSE:IDA) by 596.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 379,312 shares of the energy company’s stock after purchasing an additional 324,866 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc.’s holdings in IDACORP were worth $41,451,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in IDACORP by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,046,723 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $660,786,000 after buying an additional 77,230 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake 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 worth $374,279,000 after buying an additional 1,035,133 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in IDACORP by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,909,695 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $208,692,000 after buying an additional 166,864 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in 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 buying an additional 29,094 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Reaves W H & Co. Inc. raised its stake in IDACORP by 75.4% in the fourth quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 998,383 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $109,103,000 after buying an additional 429,276 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

IDA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of IDACORP from $121.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. StockNews.com lowered shares of IDACORP from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of IDACORP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of IDACORP from $117.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of IDACORP from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, IDACORP currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $123.57.

IDACORP Price Performance

Shares of IDA opened at $114.92 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.21 billion, a PE ratio of 20.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.34. IDACORP, Inc. has a 1-year low of $90.64 and a 1-year high of $120.84. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $115.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $113.28.

IDACORP (NYSE:IDA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The energy company reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $432.46 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $442.24 million. IDACORP had a net margin of 15.83% and a return on equity of 9.23%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.95 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that IDACORP, Inc. will post 5.81 EPS for the current year.

IDACORP Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.86 per share. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 5th. IDACORP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.10%.

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.