Short Interest in Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR) Increases By 5.3%

Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,960,000 shares, a growth of 5.3% from the August 15th total of 2,810,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,600,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.9 days.

Insider Activity at Entergy

In other Entergy news, COO Peter S. Norgeot, Jr. sold 3,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.56, for a total value of $398,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 34,993 shares in the company, valued at $4,288,742.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Entergy news, COO Peter S. Norgeot, Jr. sold 3,250 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.56, for a total value of $398,320.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 34,993 shares in the company, valued at $4,288,742.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Peter S. Norgeot, Jr. sold 11,472 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 37,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,363,182.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 42,888 shares of company stock worth $5,110,766 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Entergy

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ETR. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Entergy during the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Tidemark LLC bought a new position in Entergy during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Heritage Wealth Advisors increased its stake in shares of Entergy by 2,172.7% in the first quarter. Heritage Wealth Advisors now owns 250 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. American National Bank raised its position in shares of Entergy by 93.7% in the second quarter. American National Bank now owns 277 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the period. Finally, TruNorth Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Entergy in the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 88.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Entergy Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of Entergy stock opened at $128.46 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $27.47 billion, a PE ratio of 12.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.73. Entergy has a 1 year low of $87.10 and a 1 year high of $128.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $116.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $110.17.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.98 billion. Entergy had a net margin of 14.75% and a return on equity of 10.10%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.84 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Entergy will post 7.22 EPS for the current year.

Entergy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 13th were issued a dividend of $1.13 per share. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 13th. Entergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on ETR shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Entergy from $100.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. KeyCorp lifted their price target on Entergy from $123.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $109.50 price objective (down from $117.00) on shares of Entergy in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Bank of America raised their target price on Entergy from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on Entergy from $107.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $123.58.

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.