Entergy (NYSE:ETR) Rating Increased to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Entergy (NYSE:ETR) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Saturday.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Barclays increased their target price on Entergy from $137.00 to $152.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Entergy from $137.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Entergy from $138.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Entergy from $119.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Bank of America lowered shares of Entergy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $138.00 to $154.00 in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Entergy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $150.96.

Entergy Price Performance

NYSE ETR traded up $3.02 during trading on Friday, reaching $148.98. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,464,641 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,899,604. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.94 billion, a PE ratio of 18.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $132.34 and a 200 day moving average of $118.56. Entergy has a one year low of $94.85 and a one year high of $156.85.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $2.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.08. Entergy had a net margin of 14.83% and a return on equity of 9.53%. The business had revenue of $3.39 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.46 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.27 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Entergy will post 7.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Entergy Increases Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $1.20 per share. This is a positive change from Entergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.13. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.22%. Entergy’s payout ratio is presently 58.47%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Entergy news, insider Eliecer Viamontes sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.00, for a total transaction of $29,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 4,173 shares in the company, valued at approximately $613,431. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Andrew S. Marsh sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.03, for a total transaction of $72,018.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 150,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,092,241.93. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Eliecer Viamontes sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.00, for a total transaction of $29,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 4,173 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $613,431. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 36,338 shares of company stock worth $4,460,238 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Entergy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC raised its holdings in Entergy by 12.4% in the 2nd quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 6,926,492 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $741,135,000 after acquiring an additional 763,834 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Entergy by 47.1% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,479,044 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $693,260,000 after buying an additional 2,075,776 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in Entergy by 64.2% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,170,045 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $440,690,000 after buying an additional 1,630,057 shares in the last quarter. ClearBridge Investments Ltd lifted its stake in Entergy by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. ClearBridge Investments Ltd now owns 3,137,110 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $335,671,000 after acquiring an additional 20,025 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in shares of Entergy by 22.5% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,753,248 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $290,963,000 after acquiring an additional 505,705 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.07% of the company’s stock.

Entergy Company Profile

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.