IDA shorts retreat as Barclays lifts target to $163

IDACORP sits well below the crowded end of the regulated utility pack. Short interest at 8.6% of free float compares with higher conviction shorts among mid-size peers; closest correlate LNT has moved 5.1% over the past week, EVRG 2.3%. IDACORP itself is up 4.8% over seven days, the strongest move in its peer group.

Shorts pare back sharply

Short interest fell 21.6% over the past week to 8.6% of free float, pulling back from the October highs when shares outstanding on loan reached roughly 6.6 million. The retreat started around October 23, when positions dropped by more than a million shares in a single session. Over the past month the position is down roughly 10%.

The borrow market tells a different story from the positioning. The cost to borrow jumped 84% over the past week to 0.92%. Yet availability sits at 355%, meaning roughly three-and-a-half shares remain available for every one already borrowed. That is a loose lending pool. The cost move looks like repricing rather than a genuine supply squeeze.

Barclays reverses its own October cut

Barclays analyst Michael Lonegan raised his price target to $163 today, up from $149. That reverses the cut he made on October 9, when he lowered the target from $162 to $149. Morgan Stanley's David Arcaro also lifted his target last month, to $144 from $143. Both firms maintain Overweight. The consensus mean target stands at $154, against a current price of $147.

The October 29 earnings print helped. The stock moved 4% on the day.

Record grid output in September

US Environmental Protection Agency power generation data show IDACORP's gross capacity factor hit 69.97% in September, the largest monthly reading on record since 2024. The figure covers Idaho Power's generation fleet. Retail attention on the stock is also running above its own recent baseline, with a z-score of 2.0 against the prior 90 days as of late October.

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What to watch: The $163 Barclays target implies roughly 11% upside from current levels. The level that changes the short picture is a further borrow cost move above 1%, which would begin to signal genuine tightening in a pool that for now remains well supplied.