Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have issued a hold recommendation, ten have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $131.19.

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ETR. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Entergy from $137.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Entergy from $109.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Entergy from $131.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Entergy from $143.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Entergy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th.

Entergy Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE ETR opened at $135.38 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $127.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $115.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The company has a market capitalization of $28.95 billion, a PE ratio of 16.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.74. Entergy has a 12-month low of $90.78 and a 12-month high of $138.24.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.98 billion. Entergy had a net margin of 14.75% and a return on equity of 10.10%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.84 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Entergy will post 7.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Entergy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be paid a $1.20 dividend. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.55%. This is an increase from Entergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.13. Entergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.07%.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Peter S. Norgeot, Jr. sold 11,472 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.16, for a total transaction of $1,321,115.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 37,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,363,182.08. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, COO Peter S. Norgeot, Jr. sold 11,472 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.16, for a total transaction of $1,321,115.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 37,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,363,182.08. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Peter S. Norgeot, Jr. sold 7,922 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total transaction of $1,029,860.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 34,993 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,549,090. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 50,810 shares of company stock valued at $6,140,626. Company insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Entergy during the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Heritage Wealth Advisors grew its holdings in Entergy by 2,172.7% during the 1st quarter. Heritage Wealth Advisors now owns 250 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Trust Company N.A acquired a new position in Entergy during the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its holdings in Entergy by 423.8% during the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 220 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American National Bank grew its holdings in Entergy by 93.7% during the 2nd quarter. American National Bank now owns 277 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. 88.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Entergy

Entergy Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the production and retail distribution of electricity in the United States. It generates, transmits, distributes, and sells electric power in portions of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas, including the City of New Orleans; and distributes natural gas.