Entergy (NYSE:ETR) Hits New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $82.92 and last traded at $82.96, with a volume of 1050 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $81.99.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ETR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays lifted their target price on Entergy from $68.50 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on shares of Entergy from $165.00 to $82.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Entergy from $72.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Entergy from $83.00 to $79.50 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Entergy from $69.00 to $82.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $77.37.

Entergy Trading Up 2.1 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77. The business has a 50-day moving average of $76.11 and a 200-day moving average of $67.16. The stock has a market cap of $35.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.40, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.71.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.04. Entergy had a return on equity of 9.53% and a net margin of 14.83%. The business had revenue of $3.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.64 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Entergy Corporation will post 3.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Entergy Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 13th were issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 13th. Entergy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.47%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Haley Fisackerly sold 8,268 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.52, for a total value of $616,090.02. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 4,032 shares in the company, valued at approximately $300,444.48. This trade represents a 67.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Eliecer Viamontes sold 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.50, for a total transaction of $29,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $613,431. This represents a 4.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 14,756 shares of company stock valued at $1,095,637 over the last three months. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp increased its position in Entergy by 1.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,408,776 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,501,509,000 after acquiring an additional 128,667 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its position in Entergy by 5.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,613,647 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $870,422,000 after buying an additional 315,750 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Entergy by 47.1% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,479,044 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $693,260,000 after acquiring an additional 2,075,776 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Entergy by 53.0% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,718,859 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $754,318,000 after purchasing an additional 1,981,611 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Entergy by 0.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,965,257 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $651,206,000 after purchasing an additional 37,279 shares in the last quarter. 88.07% of the stock is currently 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.