Brokerages Set Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR) PT at $114.12

Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the thirteen ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $113.73.

ETR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Scotiabank reduced their target price on Entergy from $111.00 to $104.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Entergy from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Entergy from $107.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Entergy from $103.00 to $98.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $109.50 target price (down from $117.00) on shares of Entergy in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Entergy news, insider Haley Fisackerly sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.23, for a total value of $165,345.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 2,479 shares in the company, valued at $273,260.17. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Reginald T. Jackson sold 9,229 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.71, for a total value of $1,003,284.59. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $235,465.86. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Haley Fisackerly sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.23, for a total value of $165,345.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $273,260.17. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.39% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Entergy

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ETR. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in Entergy by 64.2% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,170,045 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $440,690,000 after purchasing an additional 1,630,057 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Entergy during the fourth quarter valued at about $127,675,000. Confluence Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Entergy in the first quarter worth about $92,257,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Entergy by 25.2% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,961,859 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $400,901,000 after buying an additional 796,316 shares during the period. Finally, ClearBridge Investments Ltd boosted its position in Entergy by 29.3% during the 4th quarter. ClearBridge Investments Ltd now owns 3,115,468 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $315,254,000 after acquiring an additional 706,059 shares in the last quarter. 88.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Entergy Stock Performance

Shares of ETR opened at $106.71 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $108.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $104.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.69. Entergy has a 52-week low of $87.10 and a 52-week high of $114.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.73.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The utilities provider reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.44 by ($0.36). The firm had revenue of $31.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.16 billion. Entergy had a return on equity of 10.20% and a net margin of 17.75%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.14 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Entergy will post 7.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Entergy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 2nd were issued a dividend of $1.13 per share. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 1st. Entergy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.34%.

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.