Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) Receives $77.40 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

Shares of Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eight have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $77.40.

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on ETR shares. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Entergy from $72.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Barclays raised their price target on Entergy from $68.50 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Entergy from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $58.00 to $75.00 in a report on Monday, November 4th. Argus upgraded Entergy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered Entergy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Eliecer Viamontes sold 400 shares of the 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 completion of 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 SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Peter S. Norgeot, Jr. sold 15,844 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $1,029,860.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 69,986 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,549,090. The trade was a 18.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 30,600 shares of company stock worth $2,125,497. 0.39% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Entergy by 1.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,408,776 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,501,509,000 after purchasing an additional 128,667 shares during the period. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC boosted its stake in shares of Entergy by 12.4% during 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 period. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Entergy by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,613,647 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $870,422,000 after acquiring an additional 315,750 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake 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 during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Entergy by 53.0% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,718,859 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $754,318,000 after purchasing an additional 1,981,611 shares during the last quarter. 88.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Entergy Trading Up 0.1 %

ETR opened at $74.84 on Friday. Entergy has a 1-year low of $48.08 and a 1-year high of $79.04. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $72.50 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $63.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.09 billion, a PE ratio of 18.21, a PEG ratio of 2.47 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 (NYSE:ETR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $3.39 billion during 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 quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.64 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Entergy will post 7.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Entergy Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.21%. Entergy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.39%.

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.