V Square Quantitative Management LLC Acquires New Position in IDACORP, Inc. (NYSE:IDA)

V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in shares of IDACORP, Inc. (NYSE:IDA) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 256 shares of the energy company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Creative Planning lifted its position in shares of IDACORP by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 17,104 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $1,763,000 after acquiring an additional 1,449 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of IDACORP by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 4,003 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $413,000 after acquiring an additional 239 shares during the period. CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of IDACORP by 63.0% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,475 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $152,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares during the period. Fulton Bank N.A. lifted its position in shares of IDACORP by 12.8% during the 3rd quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 3,476 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $358,000 after acquiring an additional 395 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of IDACORP by 44.3% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 15,628 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $1,611,000 after acquiring an additional 4,800 shares during the period. 89.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

IDACORP Stock Down 0.9 %

IDA stock opened at $103.80 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $102.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $97.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.84, a PEG ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.60. IDACORP, Inc. has a one year low of $86.43 and a one year high of $105.24.

IDACORP (NYSE:IDA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The energy company reported $1.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.34. The company had revenue of $451.04 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $420.56 million. IDACORP had a return on equity of 9.16% and a net margin of 15.04%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.35 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that IDACORP, Inc. will post 5.39 EPS for the current year.

IDACORP Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 5th will be issued a $0.86 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 5th. This is an increase from IDACORP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.31%. IDACORP’s payout ratio is 69.08%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on IDA. Bank of America began coverage on shares of IDACORP in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $110.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on IDACORP from $106.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on IDACORP in a research report on Friday, September 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $110.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on IDACORP from $102.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, IDACORP presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $104.00.

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.