Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the fifteen brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nine have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $82.14.

ETR has been the subject of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Entergy from $79.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Entergy from $85.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. KeyCorp lowered shares of Entergy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Entergy from $68.50 to $76.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Entergy from $72.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd.

Entergy Price Performance

ETR opened at $85.03 on Friday. Entergy has a twelve month low of $50.19 and a twelve month high of $88.38. The firm has a market cap of $36.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.92, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $81.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $73.02.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.03. Entergy had a return on equity of 10.68% and a net margin of 8.90%. The company had revenue of $2.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.24 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.26 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Entergy will post 3.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Entergy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Entergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 98.77%.

Insider Transactions at Entergy

In related news, insider Deanna D. Rodriguez sold 6,088 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.94, for a total value of $450,146.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,952 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $292,210.88. This represents a 60.64 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Entergy by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,427 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $451,000 after buying an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Entergy by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC now owns 8,836 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,163,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Entergy by 0.9% in the third quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 8,087 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,065,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Prossimo Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Entergy by 1.5% during the third quarter. Prossimo Advisors LLC now owns 5,971 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $786,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its holdings in Entergy by 1.3% during the third quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 7,233 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $952,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares in 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.