Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR) COO Sells $398,320.00 in Stock

Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR) COO Peter S. Norgeot, Jr. sold 3,250 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.56, for a total transaction of $398,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 34,993 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,288,742.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Entergy Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE ETR opened at $123.57 on Friday. Entergy Co. has a 52-week low of $87.10 and a 52-week high of $123.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.94. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $115.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $109.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.39, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.73.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.98 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.84 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Entergy Co. will post 7.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Entergy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 13th were given a $1.13 dividend. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 13th. Entergy’s payout ratio is currently 45.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on ETR. KeyCorp raised their target price on Entergy from $112.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 20th. Scotiabank boosted 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. Mizuho increased their price target on Entergy from $107.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Entergy from $124.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Entergy from $100.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $123.04.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Entergy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Apollon Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Entergy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $214,000. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Entergy during the fourth quarter valued at $137,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in shares of Entergy by 197.5% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 159,722 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $16,162,000 after purchasing an additional 106,039 shares in the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Entergy by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 5,550 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $562,000 after buying an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Entergy by 17.4% in the 4th quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 10,253 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,037,000 after acquiring an additional 1,516 shares in the last quarter. 88.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.