BMO Capital Markets Boosts Entergy (NYSE:ETR) Price Target to $166.00

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) had its target price lifted by investment analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $146.00 to $166.00 in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ target price points to a potential upside of 14.65% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on ETR. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Entergy from $138.00 to $137.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 7th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Entergy from $143.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. UBS Group boosted their target price on Entergy from $143.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Entergy from $125.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Entergy from $109.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $141.96.

Entergy Stock Performance

Shares of ETR stock opened at $144.79 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.62. Entergy has a one year low of $94.85 and a one year high of $156.85. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $129.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $117.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.96 billion, a PE ratio of 17.64, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.71.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $2.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.08. Entergy had a net margin of 14.83% and a return on equity of 9.53%. The business had revenue of $3.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.27 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Entergy will post 7.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Entergy

In other news, CEO Andrew S. Marsh sold 19,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.35, for a total value of $2,310,720.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 150,731 shares in the company, valued at $18,140,475.85. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Entergy news, COO Peter S. Norgeot, Jr. sold 11,472 shares of Entergy stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.16, for a total value of $1,321,115.52. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 37,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,363,182.08. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Andrew S. Marsh sold 19,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.35, for a total transaction of $2,310,720.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 150,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,140,475.85. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 50,810 shares of company stock worth $6,140,626. Insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Entergy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Entergy by 47.1% during 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. Capital International Investors boosted its position in Entergy by 64.2% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,170,045 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $440,690,000 after purchasing an additional 1,630,057 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Entergy by 185.5% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,876,672 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $200,804,000 after purchasing an additional 1,219,419 shares in the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC raised its position in shares of Entergy by 12.4% in the second quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 6,926,492 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $741,135,000 after purchasing an additional 763,834 shares during the period. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Entergy by 89.2% during the 2nd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,073,603 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $114,876,000 after buying an additional 506,239 shares in the last quarter. 88.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.