Principal Financial Group Inc. Reduces Stock Position in IDACORP, Inc. (NYSE:IDA)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of IDACORP, Inc. (NYSE:IDA) by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 476,984 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 9,236 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in IDACORP were worth $49,170,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in IDA. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in IDACORP during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in IDACORP in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in IDACORP during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of IDACORP by 35.9% in the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 443 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eastern Bank bought a new stake in IDACORP during the third quarter valued at $52,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

IDA has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of IDACORP from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on IDACORP from $106.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Mizuho upgraded IDACORP from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $102.00 to $116.00 in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of IDACORP from $110.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of IDACORP in a report on Friday, September 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $110.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, IDACORP currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $111.00.

IDACORP Price Performance

NYSE IDA opened at $108.78 on Monday. IDACORP, Inc. has a 12 month low of $86.43 and a 12 month high of $120.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.79 billion, a PE ratio of 20.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.64. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $111.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $103.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.34.

IDACORP (NYSE:IDA) last announced 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 net margin of 15.35% and a return on equity of 9.17%. The firm had revenue of $528.53 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $524.39 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $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 firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 5th were given a $0.86 dividend. This is a positive change from IDACORP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 5th. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.16%. IDACORP’s payout ratio is 63.82%.

IDACORP 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.