Fortem Financial Group LLC Increases Position in IDACORP, Inc. (NYSE:IDA)

Fortem Financial Group LLC grew its position in IDACORP, Inc. (NYSE:IDA) by 6.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 7,576 shares of the energy company’s stock after purchasing an additional 433 shares during the period. Fortem Financial Group LLC’s holdings in IDACORP were worth $828,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in IDACORP in the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of IDACORP during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in IDACORP by 2,150.0% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 315 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 301 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in IDACORP in the second quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in IDACORP by 35.9% during the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 443 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on IDA. Bank of America raised shares of IDACORP from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $113.00 to $117.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on IDACORP in a research note on Friday, September 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $110.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com cut IDACORP from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on IDACORP from $110.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on IDACORP from $106.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $111.00.

IDACORP Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of IDA traded down $1.12 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $107.82. The company had a trading volume of 199,430 shares, compared to its average volume of 234,158. IDACORP, Inc. has a 1 year low of $86.43 and a 1 year high of $120.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.65. 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 company’s 50-day simple moving average is $112.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $104.38.

IDACORP (NYSE:IDA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The energy company reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.17 by ($0.05). IDACORP had a return on equity of 9.17% and a net margin of 15.35%. The firm had revenue of $528.53 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $524.39 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.07 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that IDACORP, Inc. will post 5.41 EPS for the current year.

IDACORP Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 5th were issued a $0.86 dividend. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 5th. This is a positive change from IDACORP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. IDACORP’s dividend payout ratio is 63.82%.

IDACORP 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.