Entergy (NYSE:ETR) Price Target Raised to $78.00

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) had its price target lifted by Morgan Stanley from $75.00 to $78.00 in a research report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on ETR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Entergy from $87.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Entergy from $79.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Entergy from $85.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. 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 report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their target price 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. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.75.

Entergy Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of ETR stock opened at $83.74 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $82.90 and a 200-day moving average of $75.06. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. Entergy has a 12-month low of $50.19 and a 12-month high of $88.38. The company has a market capitalization of $36.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.68.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.03. Entergy had a net margin of 8.90% and a return on equity of 10.68%. The company had revenue of $2.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.24 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.26 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Entergy will post 3.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Entergy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Entergy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 98.77%.

Institutional Trading of Entergy

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ETR. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Entergy by 101.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,133,646 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,952,773,000 after buying an additional 26,312,267 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in shares of Entergy by 142.8% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 17,594,747 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,334,034,000 after buying an additional 10,347,926 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Entergy by 90.7% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 12,612,407 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $956,273,000 after buying an additional 5,998,760 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Entergy by 71.4% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 12,884,421 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $976,895,000 after buying an additional 5,368,396 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Entergy by 106.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,236,816 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $774,103,000 after buying an additional 5,271,559 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.07% of the company’s stock.

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.