Insider Selling: Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR) COO Sells 7,922 Shares of Stock

Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR) COO Peter S. Norgeot, Jr. sold 7,922 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total value of $1,029,860.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 34,993 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,549,090. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Entergy Price Performance

Entergy stock remained flat at $130.03 during mid-day trading on Tuesday. The company had a trading volume of 3,302,763 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,586,084. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $118.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $111.12. Entergy Co. has a twelve month low of $87.10 and a twelve month high of $131.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.73.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.16. Entergy had a net margin of 14.75% and a return on equity of 10.10%. The firm had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.98 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.84 EPS. Research analysts expect that Entergy Co. will post 7.22 EPS for the current year.

Entergy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 13th were issued a $1.13 dividend. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 13th. Entergy’s dividend payout ratio is 45.34%.

Institutional Trading of Entergy

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Entergy by 47.1% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,479,044 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $693,260,000 after buying an additional 2,075,776 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in shares of Entergy by 64.2% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,170,045 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $440,690,000 after buying an additional 1,630,057 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in Entergy by 185.5% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,876,672 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $200,804,000 after buying an additional 1,219,419 shares in the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Entergy in the first quarter valued at about $92,257,000. Finally, Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC lifted its position in shares of Entergy by 12.4% during the 2nd quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 6,926,492 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $741,135,000 after buying an additional 763,834 shares in the last quarter. 88.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on ETR shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Entergy from $124.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Entergy from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Guggenheim increased their target price on Entergy from $118.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Entergy from $115.00 to $119.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Entergy from $131.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $127.35.

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.