Entergy (NYSE:ETR) Price Target Lowered to $82.00 at Scotiabank

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) had its price target lowered by Scotiabank from $165.00 to $82.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. Scotiabank currently has a sector perform rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also commented on ETR. Morgan Stanley upgraded Entergy from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $58.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Entergy from $68.50 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Entergy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Entergy from $72.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Bank of America lowered shares of Entergy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $69.00 to $77.00 in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Six equities research 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 Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ETR opened at $75.96 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market cap of $32.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.71. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $75.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $65.54. Entergy has a one year low of $48.08 and a one year high of $79.04.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.04. Entergy had a net margin of 14.83% and a return on equity of 9.53%. The business had revenue of $3.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.46 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.64 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Entergy will post 3.61 EPS for the current year.

Entergy Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.16%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 13th. Entergy’s payout ratio is 58.39%.

Insider Transactions at Entergy

In other Entergy news, insider Eliecer Viamontes sold 400 shares of Entergy stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.50, for a total transaction of $29,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $613,431. The trade was a 4.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Haley Fisackerly sold 8,268 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.52, for a total value of $616,090.02. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 4,032 shares in the company, valued at $300,444.48. This trade represents a 67.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 14,756 shares of company stock worth $1,095,637. Insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Entergy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ETR. First County Bank CT raised its holdings in Entergy by 99.7% during the 4th quarter. First County Bank CT now owns 10,941 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $830,000 after purchasing an additional 5,461 shares during the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co raised its stake in Entergy by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank & Trust Co now owns 1,590 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $121,000 after buying an additional 795 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co boosted its position in Entergy by 119.4% during the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 6,002 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $455,000 after acquiring an additional 3,266 shares during the last quarter. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. grew its holdings in Entergy by 98.7% during the 4th quarter. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. now owns 8,076 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $612,000 after acquiring an additional 4,011 shares during the period. Finally, Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC raised its position in shares of Entergy by 102.6% in the 4th quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC now owns 61,976 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,699,000 after acquiring an additional 31,390 shares in the last quarter. 88.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.