IDACORP, Inc. (NYSE:IDA – Get Rating) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 997,300 shares, a growth of 25.8% from the November 30th total of 792,500 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 220,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.5 days. Approximately 2.0% of the shares of the company are short sold.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On IDACORP
A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in IDACORP by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,118,190 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $605,762,000 after acquiring an additional 111,296 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC grew its position in IDACORP by 49.2% during the 2nd quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 1,800,345 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $190,693,000 after acquiring an additional 593,920 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in IDACORP by 15.2% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,674,867 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $193,213,000 after acquiring an additional 221,072 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in IDACORP by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 946,307 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $109,166,000 after buying an additional 32,913 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in IDACORP by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 666,114 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $76,843,000 after buying an additional 5,101 shares during the last quarter. 79.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
IDACORP Price Performance
Shares of IDA traded down $1.13 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $107.85. The company had a trading volume of 199,026 shares, compared to its average volume of 230,620. IDACORP has a twelve month low of $93.53 and a twelve month high of $118.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The company’s 50-day moving average is $105.53 and its 200-day moving average is $105.94. The company has a market capitalization of $5.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.88, a P/E/G ratio of 6.31 and a beta of 0.60.
IDACORP (NYSE:IDA – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 3rd. The energy company reported $2.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.15. IDACORP had a return on equity of 9.20% and a net margin of 16.05%. The business had revenue of $518.01 million during the quarter. On average, equities analysts anticipate that IDACORP will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.
IDACORP Increases Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 2nd were given a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 1st. This is a positive change from IDACORP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.93%. IDACORP’s dividend payout ratio is 64.10%.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several research firms have commented on IDA. StockNews.com began coverage on IDACORP in a report on Wednesday, October 12th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on IDACORP from $102.00 to $113.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 14th. Bank of America cut IDACORP from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $115.00 to $103.00 in a report on Monday, November 7th. They noted that the move was a valuation call. Finally, Mizuho cut their price target on IDACORP from $119.00 to $117.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 9th.
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.
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