Morgan Stanley Upgrades Entergy (NYSE:ETR) to “Equal Weight”

Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Entergy (NYSE:ETR) from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research note released on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. Morgan Stanley currently has $150.00 price target on the utilities provider’s stock, up from their previous price target of $116.00.

ETR has been the subject of a number of other reports. Guggenheim increased their price objective on Entergy from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com downgraded Entergy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays decreased their price objective on Entergy from $138.00 to $137.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Entergy from $131.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Entergy from $146.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Entergy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $150.96.

Entergy Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE ETR opened at $146.06 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $31.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $131.25 and its 200-day moving average is $118.08. Entergy has a one year low of $94.85 and a one year high of $156.85.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $2.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $3.39 billion during 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 period last year, the company earned $3.27 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Entergy will post 7.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Entergy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be given a $1.20 dividend. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.29%. This is a boost from Entergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.13. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 13th. Entergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.05%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Andrew S. Marsh sold 19,200 shares of Entergy stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.35, for a total transaction of $2,310,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 150,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,140,475.85. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Andrew S. Marsh sold 19,200 shares of Entergy stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.35, for a total transaction of $2,310,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 150,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,140,475.85. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Peter S. Norgeot, Jr. sold 3,250 shares of Entergy stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.56, for a total value of $398,320.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 34,993 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,288,742.08. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 36,138 shares of company stock valued at $4,430,838 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Entergy

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ETR. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Entergy in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Heritage Wealth Advisors increased its stake in shares of Entergy by 2,172.7% in the 1st quarter. Heritage Wealth Advisors now owns 250 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Trust Company N.A bought a new position in shares of Entergy in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its stake in shares of Entergy by 423.8% in the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 220 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American National Bank increased its stake in shares of Entergy by 93.7% in the 2nd quarter. American National Bank now owns 277 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. 88.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.