Entergy (NYSE:ETR) Shares Pass Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) crossed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $68.18 and traded as high as $79.09. Entergy shares last traded at $77.68, with a volume of 7,948,933 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on ETR shares. Morgan Stanley raised Entergy from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $58.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on Entergy from $165.00 to $82.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Entergy from $69.00 to $82.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Entergy from $68.50 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Bank of America lowered Entergy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $69.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $77.37.

Entergy Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77. The stock has a market cap of $33.31 billion, a PE ratio of 18.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a fifty day moving average of $76.87 and a 200-day moving average of $68.18.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.04. Entergy had a return on equity of 9.53% and a net margin of 14.83%. The company had revenue of $3.39 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.46 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.64 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Entergy Corporation will post 3.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Haley Fisackerly sold 8,268 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.52, for a total transaction of $616,090.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 4,032 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $300,444.48. This represents a 67.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Deanna D. Rodriguez sold 6,088 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.94, for a total value of $450,146.72. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,952 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 worth $1,095,637 in the last quarter. 0.39% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in shares of Entergy by 21.4% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 986,546 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $129,840,000 after acquiring an additional 174,093 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of Entergy by 40.7% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 18,597 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,448,000 after acquiring an additional 5,381 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Entergy by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 280,262 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,885,000 after acquiring an additional 10,697 shares in the last quarter. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd boosted its position in shares of Entergy by 11.4% during the 3rd quarter. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd now owns 97,218 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $12,795,000 after acquiring an additional 9,986 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC acquired a new position in shares of Entergy during the 3rd quarter worth about $32,541,000. 88.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.