LADENBURG THALM/SH SH Upgrades Entergy (NYSE:ETR) to Buy

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) was upgraded by LADENBURG THALM/SH SH from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Thursday,Finviz reports. The brokerage presently has a $86.50 price objective on the utilities provider’s stock. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 8.90% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Guggenheim increased their target price on Entergy from $72.50 to $82.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Entergy from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $58.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Entergy from $68.50 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Bank of America cut Entergy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $69.00 to $77.00 in a report on Monday, November 4th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $79.81.

Entergy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ETR opened at $79.43 on Thursday. 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 firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $76.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $68.34. Entergy has a fifty-two week low of $48.08 and a fifty-two week high of $84.26. The company has a market cap of $34.06 billion, a PE ratio of 19.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.46 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.64 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Entergy will post 3.59 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Eliecer Viamontes sold 400 shares of Entergy stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.50, for a total value of $29,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 8,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $613,431. This trade represents a 4.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Deanna D. Rodriguez sold 6,088 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.94, for a total transaction of $450,146.72. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,952 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $292,210.88. This represents a 60.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 14,756 shares of company stock worth $1,095,637. 0.39% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Entergy

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its position in Entergy by 109.9% during the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 177,453 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $13,444,000 after buying an additional 92,925 shares during the period. Hudock Inc. grew its stake in Entergy by 100.2% during the 4th quarter. Hudock Inc. now owns 7,945 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $602,000 after acquiring an additional 3,977 shares in the last quarter. Hemington Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of Entergy by 125.0% in the 4th quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 468 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the period. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Entergy by 89.4% in the 4th quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 104,657 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,935,000 after purchasing an additional 49,394 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of Entergy by 111.2% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 171,783 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $13,025,000 after purchasing an additional 90,437 shares in the last quarter. 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.