Entergy (NYSE:ETR) Sets New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $157.04 and last traded at $156.76, with a volume of 44344 shares. The stock had previously closed at $155.93.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ETR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Entergy from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $116.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of Entergy from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Entergy from $137.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Entergy from $131.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Entergy from $119.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $150.42.

Entergy Trading Up 0.8 %

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 business’s 50-day moving average is $138.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $122.25. The firm has a market cap of $33.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.71.

Entergy’s stock is set to split before the market opens on Friday, December 13th. The 2-1 split was announced on Thursday, October 31st. The newly minted shares will be distributed to shareholders after the closing bell on Thursday, December 12th.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last announced its earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $3.39 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.46 billion. Entergy had a return on equity of 9.53% and a net margin of 14.83%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.27 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Entergy Corporation will post 7.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Entergy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be given a dividend of $1.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 13th. This is a boost from Entergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.13. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.05%. Entergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.47%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Entergy news, CEO Andrew S. Marsh sold 19,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 150,731 shares in the company, valued at $18,140,475.85. The trade was a 11.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Haley Fisackerly sold 4,134 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.03, for a total value of $616,090.02. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,016 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $300,444.48. This trade represents a 67.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 39,872 shares of company stock worth $5,004,310. 0.54% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Entergy

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its stake in shares of Entergy by 21.4% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 986,546 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $129,840,000 after purchasing an additional 174,093 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Entergy by 145.2% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 24,136 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,551,000 after buying an additional 14,293 shares during the last quarter. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Entergy by 11.4% in the third quarter. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd now owns 97,218 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,795,000 after buying an additional 9,986 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its position in Entergy by 19.3% during the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 28,498 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,049,000 after buying an additional 4,616 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Entergy by 4.0% in 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 during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.07% of the company’s stock.

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.