Entergy (NYSE:ETR) Given New $98.00 Price Target at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) had its target price boosted by investment analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $87.00 to $98.00 in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s target price indicates a potential upside of 19.76% from the company’s current price.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Entergy from $79.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Entergy from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Entergy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $86.50 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Entergy from $72.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, KeyCorp cut shares of Entergy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.11.

Entergy Stock Performance

NYSE:ETR traded up $1.37 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $81.83. The company had a trading volume of 836,571 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,229,956. The firm has a market cap of $35.22 billion, a PE ratio of 33.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.68. Entergy has a 1-year low of $50.19 and a 1-year high of $88.38. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $81.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $73.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.59.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.24 billion. Entergy had a net margin of 8.90% and a return on equity of 10.68%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.26 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Entergy will post 3.88 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Deanna D. Rodriguez sold 6,088 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.94, for a total value of $450,146.72. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 3,952 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $292,210.88. This trade represents a 60.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Entergy

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ETR. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in shares of Entergy by 21.4% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 986,546 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $129,840,000 after acquiring an additional 174,093 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in Entergy by 40.7% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 18,597 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,448,000 after purchasing an additional 5,381 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Entergy by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 280,262 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,885,000 after purchasing an additional 10,697 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Entergy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $4,393,000. Finally, Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Entergy by 74.3% during the 4th quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 7,959 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $603,000 after buying an additional 3,393 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.07% of the company’s stock.

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.