Morgan Stanley Boosts Entergy (NYSE:ETR) Price Target to $115.00

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) had its price target increased by Morgan Stanley from $109.00 to $115.00 in a research report released on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an underweight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on ETR. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH reissued a neutral rating and issued a $109.50 target price (down previously from $117.00) on shares of Entergy in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Mizuho raised their price objective on Entergy from $107.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. KeyCorp upped their target price on Entergy from $123.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Scotiabank raised their target price on Entergy from $115.00 to $119.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Entergy from $125.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Entergy currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $127.81.

Entergy Price Performance

Shares of Entergy stock opened at $131.13 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $120.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $111.56. Entergy has a twelve month low of $87.10 and a twelve month high of $131.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.15, a PEG ratio of 2.46 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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.98 billion. Entergy had a return on equity of 10.10% and a net margin of 14.75%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.84 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Entergy will post 7.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Entergy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 13th were given a dividend of $1.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 13th. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.45%. Entergy’s payout ratio is 45.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Entergy news, COO Peter S. Norgeot, Jr. sold 7,922 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total transaction of $1,029,860.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 34,993 shares in the company, valued at $4,549,090. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Entergy news, COO Peter S. Norgeot, Jr. sold 7,922 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total transaction of $1,029,860.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 34,993 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,549,090. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Peter S. Norgeot, Jr. sold 3,250 shares of Entergy stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The shares were 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 directly owns 34,993 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,288,742.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 50,810 shares of company stock worth $6,140,626. Corporate insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Entergy

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Entergy by 47.1% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,479,044 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $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 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,170,045 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $440,690,000 after purchasing an additional 1,630,057 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in Entergy by 185.5% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,876,672 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $200,804,000 after purchasing an additional 1,219,419 shares during the period. Confluence Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Entergy in the 1st quarter worth about $92,257,000. Finally, Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC increased its stake in shares of Entergy by 12.4% in 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. 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.