Entergy (NYSE:ETR) Rating Lowered to “Sell” at StockNews.com

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

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Entergy from $109.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Entergy from $146.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Entergy from $138.00 to $137.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 7th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Entergy from $143.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price target on Entergy from $143.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Entergy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $141.96.

Entergy Stock Performance

Entergy stock traded down $9.99 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $144.79. 3,871,509 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,598,875. Entergy has a fifty-two week low of $94.85 and a fifty-two week high of $156.85. The firm has a market cap of $30.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.64, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.74. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $129.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $117.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $2.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.08. Entergy had a net margin of 14.75% and a return on equity of 10.10%. The company had revenue of $3.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.27 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Entergy will post 7.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Entergy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be given a $1.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 13th. This is an increase from Entergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.13. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.32%. Entergy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Entergy news, CEO Andrew S. Marsh sold 19,200 shares of Entergy stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.35, for a total value of $2,310,720.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 150,731 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,140,475.85. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Entergy news, CEO Andrew S. Marsh sold 19,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.35, for a total value of $2,310,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 150,731 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,140,475.85. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Peter S. Norgeot, Jr. sold 11,472 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.16, for a total value of $1,321,115.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 37,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,363,182.08. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 50,810 shares of company stock worth $6,140,626. 0.39% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Entergy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in Entergy by 47.1% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,479,044 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $693,260,000 after purchasing an additional 2,075,776 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in Entergy by 64.2% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,170,045 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $440,690,000 after purchasing an additional 1,630,057 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in Entergy by 185.5% in the 2nd 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 during the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC increased its stake in Entergy by 12.4% during the second quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 6,926,492 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $741,135,000 after acquiring an additional 763,834 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Entergy by 89.2% during the 2nd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,073,603 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $114,876,000 after purchasing an additional 506,239 shares during the period. 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.