Entergy (NYSE:ETR) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Hold” Rating

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Sunday.

A number of other research firms have also commented on ETR. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Entergy from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $58.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Monday, November 4th. KeyCorp lowered Entergy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Entergy from $83.00 to $79.50 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Entergy from $68.50 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Entergy from $68.50 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Entergy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $77.40.

Entergy Stock Performance

NYSE:ETR opened at $75.75 on Friday. Entergy has a 52-week low of $48.08 and a 52-week high of $79.04. The business’s fifty day moving average is $74.12 and its 200 day moving average is $64.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market cap of $32.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.45, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.71.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.04. Entergy had a return on equity of 9.53% and a net margin of 14.83%. The firm had revenue of $3.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.46 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.64 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Entergy will post 3.61 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Deanna D. Rodriguez sold 6,088 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.94, for a total transaction 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 approximately $292,210.88. This represents a 60.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Eliecer Viamontes sold 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.50, for a total value of $29,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,346 shares in the company, valued at $613,431. The trade was a 4.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 14,756 shares of company stock worth $1,095,637 in the last ninety days. 0.39% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Entergy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ETR. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its position in Entergy by 21.4% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 986,546 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $129,840,000 after purchasing an additional 174,093 shares during the period. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd raised its stake in Entergy by 11.4% in the third quarter. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd now owns 97,218 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $12,795,000 after buying an additional 9,986 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Entergy by 4.0% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 280,262 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,885,000 after buying an additional 10,697 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC purchased a new position in shares of Entergy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,541,000. Institutional investors own 88.07% of the company’s stock.

Entergy Company Profile

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.