James Investment Research Inc. Buys 430 Shares of IDACORP, Inc. (NYSE:IDA)

James Investment Research Inc. grew its stake in IDACORP, Inc. (NYSE:IDA) by 11.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,208 shares of the energy company’s stock after acquiring an additional 430 shares during the period. James Investment Research Inc.’s holdings in IDACORP were worth $434,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of IDA. Nuance Investments LLC bought a new position in IDACORP during the first quarter worth about $86,962,000. Clean Energy Transition LLP bought a new position in IDACORP during the second quarter worth about $49,103,000. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. grew its holdings in IDACORP by 30.8% during the second quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 576,136 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $53,667,000 after purchasing an additional 135,793 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in IDACORP during the second quarter worth about $8,032,000. Finally, Reaves W H & Co. Inc. grew its holdings 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. Institutional investors own 89.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com upgraded IDACORP from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Mizuho upgraded IDACORP from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $102.00 to $116.00 in a report on Friday. Bank of America assumed coverage on IDACORP in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $110.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on IDACORP from $102.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on IDACORP from $106.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $107.67.

IDACORP Stock Up 2.3 %

NYSE IDA opened at $105.85 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. IDACORP, Inc. has a 1-year low of $86.43 and a 1-year high of $109.47. The company has a 50 day moving average of $102.92 and a 200-day moving average of $98.25. The company has a market cap of $5.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.64, a PEG ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.60.

IDACORP (NYSE:IDA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The energy company reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.17 by ($0.05). IDACORP had a net margin of 15.35% and a return on equity of 9.38%. The business had revenue of $528.53 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $524.39 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.07 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that IDACORP, Inc. will post 5.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

IDACORP Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 5th will be given a dividend of $0.86 per share. This is an increase from IDACORP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 5th. IDACORP’s payout ratio is currently 61.60%.

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.