Reginald T. Jackson Sells 9,229 Shares of Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR) Stock

Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR) CAO Reginald T. Jackson sold 9,229 shares of Entergy stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.71, for a total transaction of $1,003,284.59. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $235,465.86. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Entergy Price Performance

ETR traded up $1.56 on Tuesday, reaching $110.58. The company had a trading volume of 2,138,457 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,449,147. Entergy Co. has a one year low of $87.10 and a one year high of $110.72. The company has a market capitalization of $23.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.94, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a fifty day moving average of $104.20 and a 200-day moving average of $101.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The utilities provider reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by ($0.36). The company had revenue of $31.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.16 billion. Entergy had a net margin of 17.75% and a return on equity of 10.20%. Entergy’s revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.14 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Entergy Co. will post 7.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Entergy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 2nd will be given a $1.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 1st. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.09%. Entergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on ETR. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $117.00 target price on shares of Entergy in a research note on Monday, February 26th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on Entergy from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Scotiabank cut their target price on Entergy from $111.00 to $104.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Entergy from $110.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Entergy from $108.00 to $107.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $109.45.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Entergy

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ETR. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Entergy by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,038,725 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,408,582,000 after purchasing an additional 104,803 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Entergy by 64.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,562,369 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $422,019,000 after buying an additional 1,787,977 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Entergy by 1.1% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,506,843 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $416,883,000 after buying an additional 48,047 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Entergy by 25.2% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,961,859 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $400,901,000 after acquiring an additional 796,316 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ClearBridge Investments Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Entergy by 29.3% during the fourth quarter. ClearBridge Investments Ltd now owns 3,115,468 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $315,254,000 after acquiring an additional 706,059 shares during the period. 88.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.