Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR – Get Free Report) was the target of a large decline in short interest in the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,820,000 shares, a decline of 9.0% from the July 15th total of 3,100,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,630,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.7 days.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several equities analysts recently weighed in on ETR shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Entergy from $103.00 to $98.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 24th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Entergy from $124.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH restated a “neutral” rating and set a $109.50 price objective (down previously from $117.00) on shares of Entergy in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Barclays dropped their price target on Entergy from $116.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on Entergy from $107.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Entergy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $119.73.
Check Out Our Latest Report on Entergy
Insider Activity at Entergy
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Entergy
A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ETR. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC increased its holdings in 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 worth $741,135,000 after purchasing an additional 763,834 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Entergy by 47.1% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,479,044 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $693,260,000 after acquiring an additional 2,075,776 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its position in shares of Entergy by 64.2% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,170,045 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $440,690,000 after acquiring an additional 1,630,057 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Entergy by 25.2% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,961,859 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $400,901,000 after purchasing an additional 796,316 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ClearBridge Investments Ltd boosted its position in shares of Entergy by 0.6% during the second quarter. ClearBridge Investments Ltd now owns 3,137,110 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $335,671,000 after buying an additional 20,025 shares during the last quarter. 88.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Entergy Price Performance
ETR traded up $0.50 on Friday, reaching $117.60. The stock had a trading volume of 1,209,786 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,527,761. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The company has a market capitalization of $25.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.71. Entergy has a fifty-two week low of $87.10 and a fifty-two week high of $123.61. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $110.58 and a 200-day moving average of $106.97.
Entergy (NYSE:ETR – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.16. Entergy had a return on equity of 10.10% and a net margin of 14.75%. The company had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.98 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.84 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Entergy will post 7.21 EPS for the current year.
Entergy Dividend Announcement
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 13th will be given a $1.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 13th. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.84%. Entergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.34%.
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.
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