Putney Financial Group LLC Buys New Shares in IDACORP, Inc. (NYSE:IDA)

Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in IDACORP, Inc. (NYSE:IDA) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 1,491 shares of the energy company’s stock, valued at approximately $163,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in IDACORP in the fourth quarter valued at $913,000. Apollon Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of IDACORP during the fourth quarter valued at about $213,000. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of IDACORP by 14.2% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 16,550 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $1,809,000 after buying an additional 2,056 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of IDACORP during the fourth quarter valued at about $313,000. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of IDACORP by 90.9% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 27,184 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $2,803,000 after buying an additional 12,944 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

IDA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America raised their price objective on IDACORP from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised IDACORP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Guggenheim raised their target price on IDACORP from $121.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley set a $128.00 target price on IDACORP and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on IDACORP from $121.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.14.

IDACORP Stock Performance

IDACORP stock opened at $115.56 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $115.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $113.86. 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 stock has a market cap of $6.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.09, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.59. IDACORP, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $90.64 and a fifty-two week high of $120.84.

IDACORP (NYSE:IDA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The energy company reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $432.46 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $442.24 million. IDACORP had a return on equity of 9.23% and a net margin of 15.83%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.95 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that IDACORP, Inc. will post 5.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

IDACORP Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 5th will be given a dividend of $0.86 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 5th. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.98%. IDACORP’s payout ratio is 61.10%.

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.