Investors Purchase High Volume of Entergy Call Options (NYSE:ETR)

Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Traders acquired 2,722 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 171% compared to the typical volume of 1,006 call options.

Entergy Stock Performance

NYSE:ETR traded up $1.02 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $78.58. 363,628 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,906,487. 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 $75.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $66.36. Entergy has a 52 week low of $48.08 and a 52 week high of $79.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.71.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $3.39 billion for 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 quarter last year, the business posted $1.64 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Entergy will post 3.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Entergy Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 13th. Entergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Entergy news, insider Haley Fisackerly sold 8,268 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.52, for a total value of $616,090.02. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 4,032 shares in the company, valued at approximately $300,444.48. The trade was a 67.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Deanna D. Rodriguez sold 6,088 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were 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 represents a 60.64 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 14,756 shares of company stock worth $1,095,637 over the last 90 days. 0.39% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Entergy

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Entergy by 99.4% during the 4th quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 11,238 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $852,000 after purchasing an additional 5,602 shares during the period. Procyon Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Entergy by 24.3% during the 4th quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 4,241 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $322,000 after purchasing an additional 829 shares during the period. Tompkins Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Entergy by 91.4% in the 4th quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 2,400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $182,000 after acquiring an additional 1,146 shares during the last quarter. RDA Financial Network acquired a new position in shares of Entergy in the 4th quarter worth $208,000. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Entergy by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 6,720 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $510,000 after acquiring an additional 3,360 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley upgraded Entergy from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $58.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Monday, November 4th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Entergy from $83.00 to $79.50 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 18th. Scotiabank dropped their target price on Entergy from $165.00 to $82.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays upped their price objective on Entergy from $68.50 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Bank of America lowered Entergy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $69.00 to $77.00 in a report on Monday, November 4th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $77.37.

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.