Entergy (NYSE:ETR) Price Target Raised to $82.50

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) had its price target lifted by Scotiabank from $72.00 to $82.50 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Scotiabank currently has a sector perform rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on ETR. StockNews.com cut shares of Entergy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Argus upgraded Entergy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Guggenheim raised their price target on Entergy from $72.50 to $82.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Entergy from $69.00 to $82.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Entergy from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $58.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Monday, November 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $77.40.

Entergy Price Performance

Shares of ETR opened at $74.24 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.89. Entergy has a fifty-two week low of $48.08 and a fifty-two week high of $79.04. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $72.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $62.92. The company has a market capitalization of $15.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.71.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $3.39 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.46 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.64 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Entergy will post 7.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Entergy Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were given a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.23%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 13th. Entergy’s payout ratio is 58.47%.

Insider Activity at Entergy

In related news, insider Eliecer Viamontes sold 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.50, for a total value of $29,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 8,346 shares in the company, valued at approximately $613,431. The trade was a 4.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Peter S. Norgeot, Jr. sold 15,844 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total value of $1,029,860.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 69,986 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,549,090. This trade represents a 18.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 24,512 shares of company stock worth $1,675,350. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Entergy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Entergy by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,408,776 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,501,509,000 after acquiring an additional 128,667 shares during the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC raised its stake in shares of Entergy by 12.4% in the 2nd quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 6,926,492 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $741,135,000 after purchasing an additional 763,834 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Entergy by 5.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,613,647 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $870,422,000 after purchasing an additional 315,750 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in Entergy by 47.1% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,479,044 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $693,260,000 after purchasing an additional 2,075,776 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Entergy by 53.0% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,718,859 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $754,318,000 after buying an additional 1,981,611 shares during the last quarter. 88.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.