Martingale Asset Management L P Acquires Shares of 2,505 IDACORP, Inc. (NYSE:IDA)

Martingale Asset Management L P purchased a new position in IDACORP, Inc. (NYSE:IDA) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 2,505 shares of the energy company’s stock, valued at approximately $258,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Trust Point Inc. grew its position in shares of IDACORP by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 7,374 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $760,000 after buying an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of IDACORP by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,523 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $157,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. lifted its holdings in shares of IDACORP by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 6,411 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $597,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the period. Pitcairn Co. boosted its position in IDACORP by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 4,801 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $495,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fortem Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of IDACORP by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Fortem Financial Group LLC now owns 9,301 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $866,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the period. 89.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of IDACORP from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of IDACORP in a research report on Friday, September 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $110.00 price target on the stock. Mizuho raised IDACORP from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $102.00 to $116.00 in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America upgraded IDACORP from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $113.00 to $117.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of IDACORP from $106.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, IDACORP has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $108.83.

IDACORP Price Performance

Shares of NYSE IDA opened at $116.48 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $108.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $101.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.20 billion, a PE ratio of 21.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.64. IDACORP, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $86.43 and a fifty-two week high of $120.42.

IDACORP (NYSE:IDA) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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). IDACORP had a return on equity of 9.17% and a net margin of 15.35%. The company had revenue of $528.53 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $524.39 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.07 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that IDACORP, Inc. will post 5.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

IDACORP Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 5th were given a dividend of $0.86 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 5th. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.95%. This is a boost from IDACORP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. IDACORP’s payout ratio is 63.82%.

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.