Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR) Short Interest Update

Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,390,000 shares, a growth of 8.1% from the March 15th total of 2,210,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,370,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.7 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ETR. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Entergy from $108.00 to $107.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $117.00 price objective on shares of Entergy in a report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Entergy from $110.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Entergy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $109.78.

Entergy Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE ETR traded up $2.08 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $102.69. 826,124 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,350,118. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $102.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $99.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.07, a PEG ratio of 2.02 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. Entergy has a twelve month low of $87.10 and a twelve month high of $109.85.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The utilities provider reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52. The business had revenue of $2.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.27 billion. Entergy had a net margin of 19.41% and a return on equity of 10.54%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.51 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Entergy will post 7.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Entergy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 2nd will be issued a dividend of $1.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 1st. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.40%. Entergy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.76%.

Insider Activity at Entergy

In related news, EVP Marcus V. Brown sold 8,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.84, for a total transaction of $874,140.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,911 shares in the company, valued at $1,019,247.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Deanna D. Rodriguez sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.23, for a total transaction of $151,845.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $348,433.66. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Marcus V. Brown sold 8,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.84, for a total transaction of $874,140.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,911 shares in the company, valued at $1,019,247.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,000 shares of company stock worth $1,226,685 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Entergy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ETR. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Entergy by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 38,239 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,537,000 after purchasing an additional 467 shares during the period. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Entergy by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. now owns 595,644 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $60,273,000 after purchasing an additional 9,696 shares during the last quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Entergy by 28.9% during the 4th quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 159,395 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $16,129,000 after purchasing an additional 35,718 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Entergy by 464.4% during the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 12,044 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,114,000 after purchasing an additional 9,910 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Entergy by 10,063.5% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 236,810 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $239,630,000 after acquiring an additional 234,480 shares in 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.