Zacks Research Decreases Earnings Estimates for Entergy

Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) – Research analysts at Zacks Research dropped their FY2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Entergy in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, November 21st. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now expects that the utilities provider will post earnings per share of $7.20 for the year, down from their prior forecast of $7.21. The consensus estimate for Entergy’s current full-year earnings is $7.22 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Entergy’s Q4 2024 earnings at $1.21 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $1.29 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $1.47 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $3.10 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $7.72 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $1.63 EPS and Q3 2026 earnings at $2.99 EPS.

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. The company had revenue of $3.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.46 billion. Entergy had a return on equity of 9.53% and a net margin of 14.83%. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.27 earnings per share.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on ETR. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Entergy from $137.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Entergy from $143.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Argus raised shares of Entergy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Entergy from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $116.00 to $150.00 in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Entergy from $131.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $150.42.

Entergy Trading Up 2.3 %

ETR opened at $155.94 on Monday. Entergy has a 1-year low of $96.15 and a 1-year high of $156.85. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $138.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $122.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.43 billion, a PE ratio of 18.99, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77.

Entergy’s stock is set to split before the market opens on Friday, December 13th. The 2-1 split was announced on Thursday, October 31st. The newly created shares will be payable to shareholders after the closing bell on Thursday, December 12th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ETR. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its position in shares of Entergy by 21.4% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 986,546 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $129,840,000 after purchasing an additional 174,093 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Entergy by 145.2% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 24,136 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,551,000 after purchasing an additional 14,293 shares in the last quarter. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd lifted its position in shares of Entergy by 11.4% in the third quarter. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd now owns 97,218 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $12,795,000 after purchasing an additional 9,986 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its position in shares of Entergy by 19.3% in the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 28,498 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,049,000 after purchasing an additional 4,616 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Entergy by 4.0% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 280,262 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,885,000 after purchasing an additional 10,697 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Entergy

In other news, insider Haley Fisackerly sold 4,134 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.03, for a total value of $616,090.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 2,016 shares in the company, valued at $300,444.48. This represents a 67.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Andrew S. Marsh sold 19,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.35, for a total transaction of $2,310,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 150,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,140,475.85. This trade represents a 11.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 39,872 shares of company stock worth $5,004,310. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Entergy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be issued a dividend of $1.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.08%. This is a boost from Entergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.13. Entergy’s payout ratio is currently 58.47%.

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.