Barclays Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Entergy (NYSE:ETR) Stock

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) had its price objective boosted by Barclays from $137.00 to $152.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the company. Bank of America downgraded Entergy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $138.00 to $154.00 in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Entergy from $137.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Scotiabank upped their target price on Entergy from $119.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Entergy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Entergy from $143.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned 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, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $150.96.

Entergy Stock Performance

ETR traded up $2.32 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $148.28. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 288,358 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,599,896. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $131.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $118.08. Entergy has a one year low of $94.85 and a one year high of $156.85. The firm has a market cap of $31.79 billion, a PE ratio of 17.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $2.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.08. Entergy had a net margin of 14.83% and a return on equity of 9.53%. The company had revenue of $3.39 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.46 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.27 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Entergy will post 7.21 EPS 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 issued a dividend of $1.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 13th. This is an increase from Entergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.13. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.24%. Entergy’s payout ratio is 55.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Entergy

In other news, CEO Andrew S. Marsh sold 600 shares of Entergy stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.03, for a total value of $72,018.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 150,731 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,092,241.93. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Andrew S. Marsh sold 600 shares of Entergy stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.03, for a total transaction of $72,018.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 150,731 shares in the company, valued at $18,092,241.93. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Andrew S. Marsh sold 19,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 150,731 shares in the company, valued at $18,140,475.85. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 36,338 shares of company stock worth $4,460,238 in the last quarter. 0.54% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Entergy by 2.1% during the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,427 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $451,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co raised its stake in shares of Entergy by 12.8% in the third quarter. Bank & Trust Co now owns 795 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $105,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the period. Prossimo Advisors LLC grew its stake in Entergy by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Prossimo Advisors LLC now owns 5,971 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $786,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Entergy by 2.3% in the second quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 4,075 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $436,000 after buying an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Entergy by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,591 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $341,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. 88.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.