IDACORP, Inc. (NYSE:IDA) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

IDACORP, Inc. (NYSE:IDA) was the target of a large growth in short interest in 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 volume of 393,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.5 days. Currently, 2.7% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of IDACORP from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. TheStreet cut IDACORP from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on IDACORP from $100.00 to $94.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 16th. StockNews.com upgraded IDACORP to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their target price on IDACORP from $99.00 to $88.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $93.80.

IDACORP Price Performance

IDA stock opened at $95.97 on Thursday. 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 has a 52-week low of $86.43 and a 52-week high of $112.64. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $91.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $93.98. The company has a market capitalization of $4.86 billion, a PE ratio of 18.68 and a beta of 0.55.

IDACORP (NYSE:IDA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The energy company reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.01. IDACORP had a return on equity of 9.06% and a net margin of 14.79%. The company had revenue of $411.95 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $429.84 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.83 EPS. Analysts predict that IDACORP will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 3rd. IDACORP’s payout ratio is currently 64.59%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of IDACORP during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in IDACORP during the third quarter valued at $40,000. Northwest Financial Advisors bought a new stake in IDACORP during the fourth quarter valued at $52,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new stake in shares of IDACORP during the fourth quarter worth $54,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of IDACORP by 19.4% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 690 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $68,000 after buying an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. 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.