BMO Capital Markets Increases Entergy (NYSE:ETR) Price Target to $166.00

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) had its price objective hoisted by BMO Capital Markets from $146.00 to $166.00 in a research note published on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

ETR has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Argus raised shares of Entergy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Entergy from $143.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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. Bank of America upped their price target on Entergy from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Entergy from $143.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Entergy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $141.96.

Entergy Stock Performance

Shares of ETR opened at $144.79 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.62. Entergy has a one year low of $94.85 and a one year high of $156.85. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $129.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $117.33. The company has a market capitalization of $30.96 billion, a PE ratio of 17.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.71.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $2.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $3.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.46 billion. Entergy had a return on equity of 9.53% and a net margin of 14.83%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.27 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Entergy will post 7.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Entergy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders 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. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 13th. Entergy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Entergy

In other news, CEO Andrew S. Marsh sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were 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. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Andrew S. Marsh sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.03, for a total value of $72,018.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 150,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,092,241.93. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Peter S. Norgeot, Jr. sold 11,472 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.16, for a total value of $1,321,115.52. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 37,888 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,363,182.08. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 47,610 shares of company stock valued at $5,751,954. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ETR. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in Entergy by 47.1% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,479,044 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $693,260,000 after acquiring an additional 2,075,776 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in shares of Entergy by 64.2% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,170,045 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $440,690,000 after purchasing an additional 1,630,057 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Entergy by 185.5% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,876,672 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $200,804,000 after purchasing an additional 1,219,419 shares in the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 763,834 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Entergy by 89.2% during the 2nd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,073,603 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $114,876,000 after buying an additional 506,239 shares in the last quarter. 88.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.