Jefferies Financial Group Cuts IDACORP (NYSE:IDA) Price Target to $150.00

IDACORP (NYSE:IDA) had its target price decreased by Jefferies Financial Group from $152.00 to $150.00 in a report issued on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a buy rating on the energy company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on IDA. Wall Street Zen cut IDACORP from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of IDACORP from $129.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of IDACORP in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. BTIG Research upgraded shares of IDACORP to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of IDACORP from $135.00 to $129.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $137.78.

IDACORP Trading Up 0.4%

NYSE:IDA opened at $132.76 on Wednesday. IDACORP has a 52 week low of $108.15 and a 52 week high of $138.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.09. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $129.01 and its 200-day moving average is $128.24. The firm has a market cap of $7.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.61.

IDACORP (NYSE:IDA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The energy company reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.23 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $524.42 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $663.09 million. IDACORP had a net margin of 17.59% and a return on equity of 9.35%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.12 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that IDACORP will post 5.81 earnings per share for the current year.

IDACORP Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, February 5th will be issued a $0.88 dividend. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 5th. IDACORP’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.48%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On IDACORP

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in IDA. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in IDACORP by 115.3% during the second quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,323,656 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $152,816,000 after buying an additional 708,989 shares in the last quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC lifted its stake in IDACORP by 3,215.7% during the 2nd quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 604,451 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $69,784,000 after acquiring an additional 586,221 shares in the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP purchased a new position in IDACORP during the 3rd quarter worth $71,031,000. Soros Fund Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of IDACORP in the 2nd quarter worth $46,919,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of IDACORP by 139.4% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 591,812 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $78,208,000 after acquiring an additional 344,622 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.10% of the company’s stock.

About IDACORP

IDACORP, Inc is a diversified energy holding company headquartered in Boise, Idaho, whose primary subsidiary, Idaho Power Company, operates as a regulated electric utility. Through Idaho Power, the company provides generation, transmission and distribution services to residential, commercial and industrial customers. The company’s service territory spans southern Idaho and eastern Oregon, where it serves over half a million customers with a mix of hydroelectric, natural gas, wind and solar generation assets.

Idaho Power’s generation portfolio is anchored by a network of hydroelectric facilities along the Snake River system, complemented by natural-gas-fired plants and growing investments in renewable resources.