IDACORP (NYSE:IDA) Upgraded to Buy at Bank of America

Bank of America upgraded shares of IDACORP (NYSE:IDA) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a report published on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage currently has $117.00 price objective on the energy company’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $113.00.

IDA has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Mizuho upgraded IDACORP from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $102.00 to $116.00 in a research report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com raised shares of IDACORP from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of IDACORP from $102.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of IDACORP from $106.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of IDACORP in a research note on Friday, September 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $110.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $108.83.

IDACORP Stock Up 3.2 %

Shares of NYSE IDA opened at $109.51 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $103.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $98.48. IDACORP has a 52 week low of $86.43 and a 52 week high of $109.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 0.60.

IDACORP (NYSE:IDA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The energy company reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.17 by ($0.05). IDACORP had a return on equity of 9.17% and a net margin of 15.35%. The firm had revenue of $528.53 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $524.39 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.07 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that IDACORP will post 5.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

IDACORP Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 5th will be paid a $0.86 dividend. This is a boost from IDACORP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 5th. IDACORP’s payout ratio is presently 61.60%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On IDACORP

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Nuance Investments LLC acquired a new stake in IDACORP in the 1st quarter worth about $86,962,000. Clean Energy Transition LLP acquired a new stake in shares of IDACORP in the second quarter worth approximately $49,103,000. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. grew its holdings in IDACORP by 30.8% in the second quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 576,136 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $53,667,000 after purchasing an additional 135,793 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in IDACORP during the second quarter worth approximately $8,032,000. Finally, Reaves W H & Co. Inc. raised its stake in IDACORP by 120.5% during the first quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 138,804 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $12,893,000 after purchasing an additional 75,846 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.