Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Reduces Stake in IDACORP, Inc. (NYSE:IDA)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lowered its stake in IDACORP, Inc. (NYSE:IDA) by 1.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 688,387 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 11,192 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 1.27% of IDACORP worth $80,004,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. KBC Group NV grew its position in IDACORP by 21.2% in the first quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,350 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $273,000 after acquiring an additional 411 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of IDACORP by 20.8% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 737 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $86,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its position in shares of IDACORP by 103.0% during the first quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 8,484 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $986,000 after buying an additional 4,305 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of IDACORP by 7.4% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,583 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $765,000 after buying an additional 456 shares during the period. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of IDACORP by 318.9% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,399 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $163,000 after buying an additional 1,065 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on IDACORP from $121.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $120.00 target price (up previously from $118.00) on shares of IDACORP in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of IDACORP from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of IDACORP from $121.00 to $126.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $128.00 price target on shares of IDACORP and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $122.86.

IDACORP Stock Performance

IDACORP stock opened at $126.87 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $118.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $116.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.45. IDACORP, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $99.81 and a fifty-two week high of $127.01. The company has a market capitalization of $6.85 billion, a PE ratio of 22.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.56.

IDACORP (NYSE:IDA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The energy company reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76. The company had revenue of $531.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $478.14 million. IDACORP had a net margin of 16.96% and a return on equity of 9.18%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.71 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that IDACORP, Inc. will post 5.81 earnings per share for the current year.

IDACORP Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 5th will be paid a $0.86 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 5th. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. IDACORP’s payout ratio is 60.56%.

IDACORP Company 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.