Entergy (NYSE:ETR) Cut to Sector Weight at KeyCorp

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) was downgraded by equities researchers at KeyCorp from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Marketbeat.com reports.

ETR has been the subject of a number of other reports. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Entergy from $144.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. StockNews.com raised shares of Entergy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 9th. Guggenheim raised their price target on Entergy from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Entergy from $131.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Entergy from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $116.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Entergy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $153.19.

Entergy Stock Performance

ETR opened at $153.73 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77. Entergy has a 12-month low of $96.15 and a 12-month high of $158.07. The company has a market cap of $32.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.72, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.71. The company’s 50 day moving average is $142.24 and its 200 day moving average is $124.14.

Entergy’s stock is set to split on Friday, December 13th. The 2-1 split was announced on Thursday, October 31st. The newly minted shares will be distributed to shareholders after the market closes on Thursday, December 12th.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $2.99 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $3.39 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.46 billion. Entergy had a return on equity of 9.53% and a net margin of 14.83%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.27 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Entergy will post 7.22 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Entergy

In other Entergy news, COO Peter S. Norgeot, Jr. sold 7,922 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total transaction of $1,029,860.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 34,993 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,549,090. The trade was a 18.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Haley Fisackerly sold 4,134 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.03, for a total value of $616,090.02. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,016 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $300,444.48. The trade was a 67.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 15,506 shares of company stock valued at $2,073,670 over the last 90 days. 0.39% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Entergy by 53.0% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,718,859 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $754,318,000 after acquiring an additional 1,981,611 shares during the last quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp raised its position in Entergy by 181.5% in the 3rd quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 14,310 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,884,000 after purchasing an additional 9,227 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp lifted its stake in Entergy by 78.3% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 4,269 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $562,000 after purchasing an additional 1,875 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of Entergy during the third quarter valued at approximately $175,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Entergy by 32.9% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 48,362 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,365,000 after buying an additional 11,964 shares during the last quarter. 88.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.