Argus Upgrades Entergy (NYSE:ETR) to “Strong-Buy”

Argus upgraded shares of Entergy (NYSE:ETR) to a strong-buy rating in a research report report published on Wednesday, Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on ETR. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Entergy from $118.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Scotiabank increased their price target on Entergy from $115.00 to $119.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Entergy from $107.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. KeyCorp increased their target price on Entergy from $112.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Monday, May 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Entergy from $125.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Entergy has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $123.04.

Entergy Stock Up 0.7 %

NYSE ETR opened at $120.69 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $112.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $108.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.45. Entergy has a one year low of $87.10 and a one year high of $123.61. The firm has a market cap of $25.77 billion, a PE ratio of 12.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.71.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last announced its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.98 billion. Entergy had a return on equity of 10.10% and a net margin of 14.75%. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.84 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Entergy will post 7.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Entergy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 13th will be paid a $1.13 dividend. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.75%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 13th. Entergy’s payout ratio is currently 45.34%.

Insider Activity

In other Entergy news, CEO Andrew S. Marsh sold 600 shares of Entergy stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.03, for a total value of $72,018.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 150,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,092,241.93. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Entergy news, CEO Andrew S. Marsh sold 3,200 shares of Entergy stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.46, for a total value of $388,672.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 150,731 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,307,787.26. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Andrew S. Marsh sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.03, for a total transaction of $72,018.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 150,731 shares in the company, valued at $18,092,241.93. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 15,272 shares of company stock worth $1,781,806 over the last quarter. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Entergy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System increased its position in shares of Entergy by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 234,595 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,275,000 after purchasing an additional 13,882 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC grew its stake in shares of Entergy by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 55,261 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,592,000 after buying an additional 5,509 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Entergy during the fourth quarter worth $127,675,000. Groupama Asset Managment bought a new stake in Entergy during the fourth quarter worth $15,783,000. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Entergy by 55.4% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 14,877 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,571,000 after acquiring an additional 5,303 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.07% of the company’s stock.

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.