Entergy (NYSE:ETR) Hits New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $79.07 and last traded at $78.85, with a volume of 1058257 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $77.56.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ETR. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Entergy from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $58.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of Entergy from $165.00 to $82.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com raised Entergy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, December 29th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Entergy from $68.50 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Entergy from $68.50 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $77.37.

Entergy Stock Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $75.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $66.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.01 billion, a PE ratio of 19.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 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.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $3.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.46 billion. Entergy had a net margin of 14.83% and a return on equity of 9.53%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.64 EPS. Research analysts expect that Entergy Corporation will post 3.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Entergy Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 13th were paid a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.03%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 13th. Entergy’s payout ratio is currently 58.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Eliecer Viamontes sold 400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.50, for a total value of $29,400.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 8,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $613,431. This represents a 4.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Haley Fisackerly sold 8,268 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.52, for a total value of $616,090.02. Following the sale, the insider now owns 4,032 shares in the company, valued at approximately $300,444.48. This trade represents a 67.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 14,756 shares of company stock valued at $1,095,637. 0.39% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Entergy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ETR. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its holdings in Entergy by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 6,318 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $676,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Choreo LLC purchased a new position in shares of Entergy during the second quarter valued at approximately $326,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its position in Entergy by 0.9% during the second quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 41,671 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,422,000 after acquiring an additional 392 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Entergy by 16.1% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 967,973 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $103,573,000 after acquiring an additional 134,069 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its holdings in Entergy by 212.3% in the 2nd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 7,142 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $764,000 after acquiring an additional 4,855 shares during the last quarter. 88.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.