Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) Receives $84.75 Average Price Target from Analysts

Shares of Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nine have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $84.75.

ETR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of Entergy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $86.50 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Entergy from $85.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Entergy from $87.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. KeyCorp cut Entergy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Entergy from $79.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th.

Entergy Trading Up 0.4 %

ETR stock opened at $84.38 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. Entergy has a 52-week low of $50.19 and a 52-week high of $88.38. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $83.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $75.86. The firm has a market cap of $36.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.65, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.68.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.24 billion. Entergy had a return on equity of 10.68% and a net margin of 8.90%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.26 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Entergy will post 3.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Entergy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Entergy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 98.77%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Entergy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Entergy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,393,000. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC increased its stake in Entergy by 74.3% during the fourth quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 7,959 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $603,000 after acquiring an additional 3,393 shares during the last quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC purchased a new stake in Entergy in the fourth quarter valued at $217,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Entergy by 324.3% in the 4th quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 734 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 561 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Braun Stacey Associates Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Entergy by 88.8% in the 4th quarter. Braun Stacey Associates Inc. now owns 360,502 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,333,000 after purchasing an additional 169,511 shares during the last quarter. 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.