Entergy (NYSE:ETR) Stock Price Expected to Rise, UBS Group Analyst Says

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) had its price objective boosted by equities researchers at UBS Group from $144.00 to $180.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. UBS Group’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 18.70% from the stock’s previous close.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Guggenheim increased their price target on shares of Entergy from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Entergy from $119.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Argus upgraded shares of Entergy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Entergy from $138.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Entergy from $131.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $153.19.

Entergy Price Performance

Shares of ETR opened at $151.64 on Tuesday. Entergy has a fifty-two week low of $96.15 and a fifty-two week high of $158.07. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $141.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $123.93. The company has a market cap of $32.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.47, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77.

Entergy’s stock is set to split before the market opens on Friday, December 13th. The 2-1 split was announced on Thursday, October 31st. The newly issued shares will be issued to shareholders after the market closes on Thursday, December 12th.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $2.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $3.46 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.27 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Entergy will post 7.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Entergy

In related news, COO Peter S. Norgeot, Jr. sold 7,922 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total value of $1,029,860.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 34,993 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,549,090. This trade represents a 18.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Haley Fisackerly sold 4,134 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.03, for a total transaction of $616,090.02. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,016 shares in the company, valued at $300,444.48. This represents a 67.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 15,506 shares of company stock worth $2,073,670. 0.39% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Entergy

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cetera Advisors LLC lifted its position in Entergy by 145.2% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 24,136 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,551,000 after buying an additional 14,293 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Entergy by 282.2% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 581 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 429 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. lifted its position in Entergy by 12.3% during the second quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 5,038 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $532,000 after buying an additional 553 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its position in Entergy by 11.8% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 17,746 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,899,000 after buying an additional 1,868 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Simplicity Wealth LLC lifted its position in Entergy by 1.6% during the second quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 10,413 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,114,000 after buying an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. 88.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.