IDACORP, Inc. (NYSE:IDA) Shares Sold by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. reduced its position in shares of IDACORP, Inc. (NYSE:IDA) by 42.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 98,260 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 72,225 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in IDACORP were worth $10,738,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of IDACORP by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,046,723 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $660,786,000 after buying an additional 77,230 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of IDACORP by 43.3% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,424,956 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $374,279,000 after purchasing an additional 1,035,133 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of IDACORP by 5.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,656,697 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $170,789,000 after purchasing an additional 86,642 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its position in shares of IDACORP by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,379,408 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $150,742,000 after purchasing an additional 29,094 shares during the period. Finally, Reaves W H & Co. Inc. increased its stake in IDACORP by 75.4% in the 4th quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 998,383 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $109,103,000 after purchasing an additional 429,276 shares in the last quarter. 89.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on IDA shares. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of IDACORP from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Guggenheim upgraded shares of IDACORP from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of IDACORP from $117.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Jefferies Financial Group raised IDACORP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on IDACORP from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $120.50.

IDACORP Price Performance

NYSE IDA opened at $117.41 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $114.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $111.20. IDACORP, Inc. has a twelve month low of $88.70 and a twelve month high of $120.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.34 billion, a PE ratio of 21.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.70.

IDACORP (NYSE:IDA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The energy company reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $398.13 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $403.21 million. IDACORP had a return on equity of 9.23% and a net margin of 15.83%. Research analysts anticipate that IDACORP, Inc. will post 5.81 EPS for the current year.

IDACORP Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th were given a dividend of $0.86 per share. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.93%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 5th. IDACORP’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.77%.

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.