IDACORP (NYSE:IDA) Upgraded to “Buy” at Guggenheim

Guggenheim upgraded shares of IDACORP (NYSE:IDA) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of IDACORP from $106.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America raised IDACORP from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $113.00 to $117.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on IDACORP from $110.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Mizuho upgraded IDACORP from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $102.00 to $116.00 in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of IDACORP from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $114.60.

IDACORP Price Performance

Shares of IDA stock opened at $108.65 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $112.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $105.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.70. IDACORP has a 52-week low of $86.43 and a 52-week high of $120.42.

IDACORP (NYSE:IDA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The energy company reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.17 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $528.53 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $524.39 million. IDACORP had a return on equity of 9.17% and a net margin of 15.35%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.07 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that IDACORP will post 5.41 earnings per share for the current year.

IDACORP Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th will be issued a $0.86 dividend. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 5th. IDACORP’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.82%.

Institutional Trading of IDACORP

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in IDACORP by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 693,327 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $64,583,000 after buying an additional 47,527 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its stake in shares of IDACORP by 37.5% during the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 5,078 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $472,000 after acquiring an additional 1,384 shares during the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL raised its position in shares of IDACORP by 78.8% in the 2nd quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 4,375 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $408,000 after purchasing an additional 1,928 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new position in shares of IDACORP in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $243,000. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in IDACORP by 55.2% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 11,704 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $1,090,000 after purchasing an additional 4,162 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.