Entergy (NYSE:ETR) Sets New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $143.86 and last traded at $143.69, with a volume of 92028 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $134.40.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ETR has been the topic of a number of research reports. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Entergy from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Entergy from $115.00 to $119.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Entergy from $137.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Entergy from $109.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Argus upgraded Entergy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Entergy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.19.

Entergy Stock Up 12.0 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The company has a market cap of $32.19 billion, a PE ratio of 17.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $128.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $116.55.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 analyst estimates of $2.98 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.84 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Entergy Co. will post 7.21 EPS for the current year.

Entergy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be paid a $1.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.19%. This is a positive change from Entergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.13. Entergy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.07%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Entergy news, CEO Andrew S. Marsh sold 3,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.46, for a total value of $388,672.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 150,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,307,787.26. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Entergy news, CEO Andrew S. Marsh sold 3,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.46, for a total value of $388,672.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 150,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,307,787.26. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Peter S. Norgeot, Jr. sold 11,472 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.16, for a total value of $1,321,115.52. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 37,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,363,182.08. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 50,810 shares of company stock valued at $6,140,626 over the last quarter. 0.54% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Entergy

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Entergy during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Heritage Wealth Advisors raised its holdings in shares of Entergy by 2,172.7% during the first quarter. Heritage Wealth Advisors now owns 250 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Trust Company N.A bought a new position in shares of Entergy during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its holdings in shares of Entergy by 423.8% during the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 220 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Entergy by 93.7% during the second quarter. American National Bank now owns 277 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.