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

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Entergy (NYSE:ETR) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Sunday.

ETR has been the topic of several other reports. Bank of America downgraded Entergy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $69.00 to $77.00 in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Entergy from $69.00 to $82.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Entergy from $83.00 to $79.50 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Entergy from $68.50 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, KeyCorp cut shares of Entergy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $77.40.

Entergy Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:ETR opened at $75.76 on Friday. Entergy has a 52-week low of $48.08 and a 52-week high of $79.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.46, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.71. 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 stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $73.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $64.42.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last announced 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 net margin of 14.83% and a return on equity of 9.53%. The company had revenue of $3.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.64 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Entergy will post 3.61 EPS for the current year.

Entergy Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 13th were paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 13th. Entergy’s payout ratio is presently 58.39%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Haley Fisackerly sold 8,268 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.52, for a total value of $616,090.02. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 4,032 shares in the company, valued at $300,444.48. The trade was a 67.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $450,146.72. Following the sale, the insider now owns 3,952 shares in the company, valued at $292,210.88. This represents a 60.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 14,756 shares of company stock valued at $1,095,637 in the last quarter. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Entergy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Entergy in the third quarter worth $27,000. Cetera Trust Company N.A purchased a new stake in shares of Entergy in the third quarter valued at $29,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Entergy by 423.8% in the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 220 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. Coastline Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Entergy in the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new position in shares of Entergy during the 2nd quarter worth about $34,000. 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.