IDACORP, Inc. (NYSE:IDA) Stake Lessened by CENTRAL TRUST Co

CENTRAL TRUST Co cut its stake in IDACORP, Inc. (NYSE:IDA) by 39.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 769 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 500 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in IDACORP were worth $76,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in IDACORP during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $164,000. Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its stake in shares of IDACORP by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 571,784 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $56,218,000 after purchasing an additional 1,822 shares during the last quarter. Trust Point Inc. acquired a new position in shares of IDACORP during the 4th quarter worth $658,000. Caprock Group LLC increased its stake in shares of IDACORP by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 7,046 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $693,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in IDACORP by 13.5% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,383 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $129,000 after buying an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. 89.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

IDACORP Price Performance

Shares of IDACORP stock opened at $93.68 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a current ratio of 1.58. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $90.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $94.20. IDACORP, Inc. has a twelve month low of $86.43 and a twelve month high of $112.96. The firm has a market cap of $4.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.23 and a beta of 0.56.

IDACORP (NYSE:IDA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The energy company reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.01. IDACORP had a net margin of 14.79% and a return on equity of 9.06%. The business had revenue of $411.95 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $429.84 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.83 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that IDACORP, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

IDACORP Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 5th were given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 2nd. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.54%. IDACORP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.59%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on IDA. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of IDACORP from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of IDACORP from $99.00 to $88.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. TheStreet downgraded shares of IDACORP from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of IDACORP from $100.00 to $94.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Guggenheim downgraded shares of IDACORP from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $93.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $93.80.

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.