Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has assigned a hold recommendation and seven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $109.78.

Several research firms recently issued reports on ETR. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Entergy from $110.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $117.00 target price on shares of Entergy in a report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on Entergy from $108.00 to $107.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday.

Entergy Stock Performance

ETR opened at $102.29 on Tuesday. Entergy has a 52-week low of $87.10 and a 52-week high of $109.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.81 billion, a PE ratio of 9.22, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.57. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $102.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $99.90.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The utilities provider reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.52. Entergy had a return on equity of 10.54% and a net margin of 19.41%. The business had revenue of $2.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.27 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.51 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Entergy will post 7.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Entergy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 2nd will be given a $1.13 dividend. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.42%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 1st. Entergy’s payout ratio is 40.76%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Marcus V. Brown sold 8,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.84, for a total value of $874,140.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 9,911 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,019,247.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Kimberly Cook-Nelson sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.35, for a total transaction of $200,700.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,037 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,609,312.95. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Marcus V. Brown sold 8,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.84, for a total value of $874,140.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,911 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,019,247.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 12,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,226,685. 0.54% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Entergy

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of ETR. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its position in Entergy by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 38,239 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,537,000 after acquiring an additional 467 shares during the period. Alberta Investment Management Corp raised its stake in shares of Entergy by 73.3% during the second quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 27,412 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,669,000 after acquiring an additional 11,598 shares during the last quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Entergy by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. now owns 595,644 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $60,273,000 after acquiring an additional 9,696 shares during the last quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Entergy by 28.9% during the fourth quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 159,395 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $16,129,000 after acquiring an additional 35,718 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Entergy by 464.4% during the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 12,044 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,114,000 after acquiring an additional 9,910 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.07% of the company’s stock.

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.