Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.60

Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, April 7th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd will be given a dividend of 0.60 per share by the utilities provider on Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.04%.

Entergy has raised its dividend by an average of 5.9% per year over the last three years. Entergy has a dividend payout ratio of 55.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Entergy to earn $4.30 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.40 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 55.8%.

Entergy Stock Performance

Entergy stock traded down $0.00 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $79.03. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,878,467 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,284,643. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. Entergy has a twelve month low of $50.19 and a twelve month high of $88.38. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $83.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $76.69. The firm has a market cap of $34.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.45, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.56.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.03. Entergy had a net margin of 8.90% and a return on equity of 10.68%. The business had revenue of $2.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.24 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.26 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Entergy will post 3.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Entergy

An institutional investor recently raised its position in Entergy stock. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) by 275.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,176 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,733 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Entergy were worth $696,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. 88.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Entergy from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on Entergy from $165.00 to $82.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Entergy from $79.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Entergy from $85.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on Entergy from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Six 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.75.

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.