IDACORP, Inc. (NYSE:IDA) Short Interest Update

IDACORP, Inc. (NYSE:IDA) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,370,000 shares, a growth of 6.2% from the March 31st total of 1,290,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 393,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.5 days. Approximately 2.7% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. TheStreet lowered IDACORP from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Guggenheim lowered IDACORP from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $93.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on IDACORP from $100.00 to $94.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 16th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of IDACORP from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of IDACORP from $99.00 to $88.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have issued a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $93.80.

IDACORP Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of IDA opened at $96.00 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.68 and a beta of 0.55. IDACORP has a 52 week low of $86.43 and a 52 week high of $112.64. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $91.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $93.97. The company has a quick ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95.

IDACORP (NYSE:IDA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The energy company reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $411.95 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $429.84 million. IDACORP had a return on equity of 9.06% and a net margin of 14.79%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.83 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that IDACORP will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

IDACORP Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 6th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 3rd. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.46%. IDACORP’s payout ratio is 64.59%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Fortem Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of IDACORP by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Fortem Financial Group LLC now owns 9,189 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $854,000 after buying an additional 484 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its position in IDACORP by 8.7% during the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 17,542 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $1,629,000 after acquiring an additional 1,405 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in IDACORP by 42.4% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 11,635 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $1,081,000 after purchasing an additional 3,464 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in shares of IDACORP by 59.1% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 391,388 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $36,356,000 after purchasing an additional 145,316 shares during the period. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its stake in shares of IDACORP by 6.6% during the first quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 19,127 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $1,777,000 after purchasing an additional 1,185 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.10% of the company’s stock.

About IDACORP

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.