Entergy (NYSE:ETR) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Entergy (NYSE:ETR) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report released on Monday morning.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. KeyCorp cut Entergy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of Entergy from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Entergy from $137.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. UBS Group raised their target price on Entergy from $144.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on Entergy from $138.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Entergy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $153.19.

Entergy Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of Entergy stock opened at $149.55 on Monday. Entergy has a 52-week low of $96.15 and a 52-week high of $158.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.89. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $143.01 and a 200-day moving average of $124.85. The stock has a market cap of $32.07 billion, a PE ratio of 18.22, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.71.

Shares of Entergy are set to split before the market opens on Friday, December 13th. The 2-1 split was announced on Thursday, October 31st. The newly minted shares will be distributed to shareholders after the closing bell on Thursday, December 12th.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $2.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $3.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.46 billion. Entergy had a net margin of 14.83% and a return on equity of 9.53%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.27 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Entergy will post 7.22 EPS for the current year.

Entergy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were issued a dividend of $1.20 per share. This is a boost from Entergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.13. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 13th. Entergy’s payout ratio is 58.47%.

Insider Activity at Entergy

In related news, COO Peter S. Norgeot, Jr. sold 7,922 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total transaction of $1,029,860.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 34,993 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,549,090. This trade represents a 18.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Haley Fisackerly sold 4,134 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.03, for a total value of $616,090.02. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 2,016 shares in the company, valued at $300,444.48. This trade represents a 67.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,256 shares of company stock worth $1,675,350 in the last quarter. 0.54% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ETR. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Entergy by 53.0% during the 3rd 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. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp grew its stake in Entergy by 181.5% during the third quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 14,310 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,884,000 after purchasing an additional 9,227 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp grew its stake in Entergy by 78.3% during the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 4,269 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $562,000 after purchasing an additional 1,875 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in Entergy in the third quarter valued at approximately $175,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Entergy by 32.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 48,362 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,365,000 after buying an additional 11,964 shares in the last quarter. 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.