IDACORP (NYSE:IDA) Raised to Buy at Jefferies Financial Group

IDACORP (NYSE:IDA - Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Marketbeat.com reports.

IDA has been the topic of several other research reports. Bank of America upped their price target on IDACORP from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of IDACORP from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of IDACORP from $117.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Guggenheim raised shares of IDACORP from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, IDACORP currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $120.50.

IDACORP Price Performance

IDA traded down $2.05 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $112.35. The company's stock had a trading volume of 209,300 shares, compared to its average volume of 326,775. The company has a market cap of $6.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.50, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.56. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $113.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $110.73. IDACORP has a 1 year low of $88.70 and a 1 year high of $120.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93.

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IDACORP (NYSE:IDA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The energy company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.07. IDACORP had a return on equity of 9.23% and a net margin of 15.83%. The company had revenue of $398.13 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $403.21 million. As a group, analysts anticipate that IDACORP will post 5.81 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On IDACORP

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Diversified Trust Co acquired a new position in IDACORP during the 4th quarter worth $704,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in shares of IDACORP in the 4th quarter valued at about $913,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of IDACORP by 7.0% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 343,400 shares of the energy company's stock worth $35,401,000 after buying an additional 22,485 shares in the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of IDACORP during the fourth quarter worth about $213,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of IDACORP by 14.2% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 16,550 shares of the energy company's stock worth $1,809,000 after buying an additional 2,056 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.10% of the company's stock.

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.