IDACORP, Inc. (NYSE:IDA) Short Interest Down 9.2% in August

IDACORP, Inc. (NYSE:IDA) saw a large drop in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 780,100 shares, a drop of 9.2% from the August 15th total of 858,900 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 317,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.5 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on IDA. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on IDACORP from $98.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of IDACORP from $94.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of IDACORP in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $110.00 price target for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $101.50.

IDACORP Trading Down 1.0 %

IDACORP stock traded down $1.06 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $103.43. 315,932 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 350,852. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $100.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $95.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. IDACORP has a 12 month low of $86.43 and a 12 month high of $105.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.76 and a beta of 0.60.

IDACORP (NYSE:IDA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The energy company reported $1.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.34. IDACORP had a net margin of 15.04% and a return on equity of 9.16%. The business had revenue of $451.04 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $420.56 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.35 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that IDACORP will post 5.41 EPS for the current year.

IDACORP Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 5th were issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 5th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.21%. IDACORP’s payout ratio is currently 66.67%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On IDACORP

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of IDA. Rise Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of IDACORP by 65.8% in the 2nd quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 368 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 146 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in IDACORP in the second quarter worth approximately $35,000. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new stake in IDACORP in the first quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new stake in shares of IDACORP during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of IDACORP by 19.4% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 690 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the period. 89.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.