Entergy (NYSE:ETR) Hits New 1-Year High on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday after UBS Group raised their price target on the stock from $143.00 to $144.00. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Entergy traded as high as $129.70 and last traded at $129.47, with a volume of 1413123 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $127.68.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on ETR. Guggenheim upped their price target 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 target price on shares of Entergy from $115.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Argus raised shares of Entergy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Barclays raised shares of Entergy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $115.00 to $138.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Entergy from $125.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. 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 MarketBeat.com, Entergy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $127.35.

Insider Buying and Selling at Entergy

In other news, insider Eliecer Viamontes sold 5,166 shares of Entergy stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $619,920.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 5,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $614,040. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Entergy news, CEO Andrew S. Marsh sold 3,200 shares of Entergy stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.46, for a total value of $388,672.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 150,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,307,787.26. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Eliecer Viamontes sold 5,166 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total transaction of $619,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 5,117 shares in the company, valued at $614,040. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 42,888 shares of company stock valued at $5,110,766 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ETR. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC raised its position 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 valued at $741,135,000 after purchasing an additional 763,834 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in Entergy by 47.1% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,479,044 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $693,260,000 after buying an additional 2,075,776 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its position in Entergy by 64.2% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,170,045 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $440,690,000 after buying an additional 1,630,057 shares during the last quarter. ClearBridge Investments Ltd boosted its stake in Entergy by 0.6% during the second quarter. ClearBridge Investments Ltd now owns 3,137,110 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $335,671,000 after buying an additional 20,025 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in Entergy by 22.5% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,753,248 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $290,963,000 after acquiring an additional 505,705 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.07% of the company’s stock.

Entergy Trading Up 1.3 %

The company’s 50 day moving average price is $118.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $110.81. The firm has a market cap of $27.61 billion, a PE ratio of 12.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by $0.16. Entergy had a net margin of 14.75% and a return on equity of 10.10%. The company had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.98 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.84 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Entergy Co. will post 7.22 EPS for the current year.

Entergy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 13th were issued a dividend of $1.13 per share. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 13th. Entergy’s payout ratio is currently 45.34%.

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.