KeyCorp Boosts Entergy (NYSE:ETR) Price Target to $112.00

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) had its price target upped by KeyCorp from $108.00 to $112.00 in a report published on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on ETR. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Entergy from $110.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Entergy from $108.00 to $107.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an outperform rating and issued a $117.00 price objective on shares of Entergy in a research note on Monday, February 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Entergy currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $110.00.

Entergy Stock Up 2.9 %

NYSE:ETR opened at $106.77 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $102.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $100.13. Entergy has a 52 week low of $87.10 and a 52 week high of $109.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.71.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The utilities provider reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52. Entergy had a return on equity of 10.54% and a net margin of 19.41%. The company had revenue of $2.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.27 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.51 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Entergy will post 7.22 EPS for the current year.

Entergy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 2nd will be given a dividend of $1.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 1st. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.23%. Entergy’s payout ratio is 40.76%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Marcus V. Brown sold 8,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.84, for a total transaction of $874,140.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,911 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,019,247.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Kimberly Cook-Nelson sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.35, for a total transaction of $200,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,037 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,609,312.95. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Marcus V. Brown sold 8,500 shares of Entergy stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.84, for a total transaction of $874,140.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 9,911 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,019,247.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 12,000 shares of company stock worth $1,226,685. Company insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Entergy

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Entergy by 64.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,562,369 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $422,019,000 after purchasing an additional 1,787,977 shares in the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP boosted its holdings in Entergy by 16,815.8% during the second quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 1,319,436 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $128,473,000 after buying an additional 1,311,636 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Entergy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $127,675,000. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Entergy by 8.1% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,122,596 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,415,313,000 after buying an additional 908,932 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Confluence Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Entergy during the first quarter worth approximately $92,257,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.07% of the company’s stock.

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.