Legal & General Group Plc Lowers Stock Holdings in IDACORP, Inc. (NYSE:IDA)

Legal & General Group Plc cut its holdings in IDACORP, Inc. (NYSE:IDA) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 277,030 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 3,310 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in IDACORP were worth $30,274,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in IDA. Diversified Trust Co acquired a new position in IDACORP in the fourth quarter valued at $704,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in shares of IDACORP during the 4th quarter valued at about $913,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of IDACORP by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 343,400 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $35,401,000 after acquiring an additional 22,485 shares during the period. Apollon Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of IDACORP in the fourth quarter worth approximately $213,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in IDACORP by 14.2% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 16,550 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $1,809,000 after purchasing an additional 2,056 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.10% of the company’s stock.

IDACORP Price Performance

Shares of NYSE IDA opened at $117.41 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.42, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.56. 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 $88.70 and a 1-year high of $120.84. The business has a 50-day moving average of $114.28 and a 200-day moving average of $111.20.

IDACORP (NYSE:IDA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The energy company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $398.13 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $403.21 million. IDACORP had a net margin of 15.83% and a return on equity of 9.23%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that IDACORP, Inc. 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. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th were issued a $0.86 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 5th. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.93%. IDACORP’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.77%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of IDACORP from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group lifted their target price on IDACORP from $117.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Guggenheim upgraded IDACORP from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Bank of America lifted their price objective on IDACORP from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of IDACORP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $120.50.

IDACORP 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.