Entergy (NYSE:ETR) Trading Down 5.6% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR) fell 5.6% on Friday . The company traded as low as $145.57 and last traded at $146.14. 2,303,243 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 45% from the average session volume of 1,591,478 shares. The stock had previously closed at $154.78.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ETR. UBS Group raised their target price on Entergy from $143.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Entergy from $131.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Entergy from $109.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on Entergy from $143.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Entergy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday. Two research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Entergy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $141.96.

Entergy Stock Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average of $129.72 and a 200 day moving average of $117.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77. The firm 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 posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $2.99 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.08. Entergy had a return on equity of 9.53% and a net margin of 14.83%. The business had revenue of $3.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.27 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Entergy Co. will post 7.21 EPS for the current year.

Entergy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be given a dividend of $1.20 per share. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.32%. This is a boost from Entergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.13. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 13th. Entergy’s payout ratio is presently 55.05%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Entergy news, CEO Andrew S. Marsh sold 3,200 shares of Entergy stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.46, for a total transaction of $388,672.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 150,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,307,787.26. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Entergy news, CEO Andrew S. Marsh sold 3,200 shares of Entergy stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.46, for a total transaction of $388,672.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 150,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,307,787.26. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Peter S. Norgeot, Jr. sold 11,472 shares of Entergy stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was 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 directly owns 37,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,363,182.08. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 50,810 shares of company stock valued at $6,140,626 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Entergy

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC lifted its stake in shares of Entergy by 12.4% in the 2nd quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 6,926,492 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $741,135,000 after acquiring an additional 763,834 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Entergy by 47.1% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,479,044 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $693,260,000 after acquiring an additional 2,075,776 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of Entergy by 64.2% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,170,045 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $440,690,000 after acquiring an additional 1,630,057 shares during the last quarter. ClearBridge Investments Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Entergy by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. ClearBridge Investments Ltd now owns 3,137,110 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $335,671,000 after acquiring an additional 20,025 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in shares of Entergy by 22.5% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,753,248 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $290,963,000 after acquiring an additional 505,705 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.