IDACORP, Inc. (NYSE:IDA) Short Interest Up 7.8% in October

IDACORP, Inc. (NYSE:IDA) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,390,000 shares, a growth of 7.8% from the October 15th total of 1,290,000 shares. Currently, 2.8% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 334,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.2 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

IDA has been the subject of several recent research reports. Guggenheim began coverage on shares of IDACORP in a report on Friday, October 27th. They set a “buy” rating and a $104.00 target price for the company. UBS Group initiated coverage on IDACORP in a research note on Monday, October 23rd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $99.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com started coverage on IDACORP in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “sell” rating for the company. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of IDACORP from $97.00 to $93.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of IDACORP from $112.00 to $108.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $101.00.

IDACORP Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:IDA traded down $1.43 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $97.47. The company had a trading volume of 269,108 shares, compared to its average volume of 249,103. IDACORP has a 12-month low of $88.10 and a 12-month high of $112.96. The company has a fifty day moving average of $96.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $100.30. The company has a market cap of $4.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.46, a PEG ratio of 5.23 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 2.12 and a quick ratio of 1.81.

IDACORP Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 1st will be given a $0.83 dividend. This is a boost from IDACORP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.79. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 31st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.41%. IDACORP’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.94%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Jeffrey L. Malmen sold 1,463 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.16, for a total transaction of $143,608.08. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,734 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,544,449.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in IDA. BlackRock Inc. raised its stake in IDACORP by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 6,316,570 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $684,274,000 after acquiring an additional 105,226 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of IDACORP by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,118,190 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $605,762,000 after purchasing an additional 111,296 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of IDACORP by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,031,531 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $326,951,000 after buying an additional 91,714 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in IDACORP by 15.2% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,674,867 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $193,213,000 after buying an additional 221,072 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its holdings in IDACORP by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,451,182 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $157,207,000 after buying an additional 17,541 shares during the period. 83.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.