Entergy (NYSE:ETR) Stock Rating Upgraded by LADENBURG THALM/SH SH

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) was upgraded by research analysts at LADENBURG THALM/SH SH from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Thursday,Finviz reports. The firm presently has a $86.50 price objective on the utilities provider’s stock. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH’s price target points to a potential upside of 8.90% from the company’s current price.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on ETR. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Entergy from $68.50 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Entergy from $72.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Entergy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, December 29th. KeyCorp downgraded Entergy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Bank of America cut Entergy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $69.00 to $77.00 in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Entergy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $79.81.

Entergy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ETR opened at $79.43 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $76.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $68.34. The company has a market cap of $34.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 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 has a 12 month low of $48.08 and a 12 month high of $84.26.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.04. Entergy had a return on equity of 9.53% and a net margin of 14.83%. The firm had revenue of $3.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.64 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Entergy will post 3.59 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Entergy

In other news, insider Deanna D. Rodriguez sold 6,088 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.94, for a total value of $450,146.72. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,952 shares in the company, valued at approximately $292,210.88. This represents a 60.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Eliecer Viamontes sold 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.50, for a total transaction of $29,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,346 shares in the company, valued at approximately $613,431. This trade represents a 4.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 14,756 shares of company stock valued at $1,095,637 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Entergy by 53.0% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,718,859 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $754,318,000 after acquiring an additional 1,981,611 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Entergy by 139.5% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,423,556 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $183,754,000 after purchasing an additional 1,411,473 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Entergy by 60.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,589,727 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $472,444,000 after purchasing an additional 1,354,355 shares during the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Entergy by 96.0% in the 4th quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 1,607,273 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $121,863,000 after buying an additional 787,367 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in Entergy by 1,490.4% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 687,874 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $52,155,000 after buying an additional 644,622 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.