Entergy (NYSE:ETR) Sees Large Volume Increase – Here’s Why

Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) saw unusually-strong trading volume on Tuesday . Approximately 2,262,287 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 30% from the previous session’s volume of 3,249,205 shares.The stock last traded at $82.77 and had previously closed at $85.45.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on ETR shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Entergy from $79.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Entergy from $72.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Entergy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, December 29th. KeyCorp lowered shares of Entergy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Entergy from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.11.

Entergy Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.72. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $82.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $74.73. The company has a market cap of $36.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.80, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.68.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.03. Entergy had a net margin of 8.90% and a return on equity of 10.68%. The company had revenue of $2.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.26 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Entergy Corporation will post 3.88 EPS for the current year.

Entergy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.83%. Entergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 98.77%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ETR. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Entergy by 21.6% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,971 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $391,000 after acquiring an additional 528 shares during the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Entergy by 2.1% during the 3rd 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. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of Entergy by 40.7% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 18,597 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,448,000 after acquiring an additional 5,381 shares during the last quarter. LMR Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of Entergy during the 3rd quarter valued at about $329,000. Finally, Pathstone Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of Entergy by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 16,862 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,219,000 after acquiring an additional 1,081 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.07% of the company’s stock.

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.