BMO Capital Markets Issues Positive Forecast for Entergy (NYSE:ETR) Stock Price

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) had its price target lifted by equities research analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $79.00 to $94.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ target price would suggest a potential upside of 8.58% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Entergy from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $58.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Entergy from $85.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Bank of America lowered 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 report on Monday, November 4th. StockNews.com raised shares of Entergy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, December 29th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Entergy from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.14.

Entergy Stock Performance

Shares of ETR traded down $0.83 on Wednesday, reaching $86.57. 1,625,093 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,706,739. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $78.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $71.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77. Entergy has a 52-week low of $49.80 and a 52-week high of $88.38. The stock has a market cap of $37.12 billion, a PE ratio of 21.10, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.72.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.03. Entergy had a net margin of 14.83% and a return on equity of 9.53%. The firm had revenue of $2.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.24 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.26 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Entergy will post 3.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Entergy news, 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Entergy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ETR. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Entergy by 101.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,133,646 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,952,773,000 after purchasing an additional 26,312,267 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in Entergy by 142.8% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 17,594,747 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,334,034,000 after buying an additional 10,347,926 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Entergy by 90.7% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 12,612,407 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $956,273,000 after acquiring an additional 5,998,760 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Entergy by 71.4% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 12,884,421 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $976,895,000 after acquiring an additional 5,368,396 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Entergy by 106.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,236,816 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $774,103,000 after acquiring an additional 5,271,559 shares during 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.