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

Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, April 7th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd will be paid 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 3.03%.

Entergy has raised its dividend by an average of 5.9% per year over the last three years. Entergy has a payout ratio of 55.2% meaning 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 Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE ETR opened at $79.17 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.72. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $83.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $76.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.51, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.56. Entergy has a 52-week low of $50.19 and a 52-week high of $88.38.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.66 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $2.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.24 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.26 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Entergy will post 3.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ETR has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Entergy from $85.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Entergy from $79.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Entergy from $86.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Entergy from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Entergy from $87.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.75.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Entergy

An institutional investor recently raised its position in Entergy stock. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) by 275.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,176 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,733 shares during the quarter. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Entergy were worth $696,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Hedge funds and other 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.