Entergy Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:ETR)

Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) saw unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Traders acquired 4,518 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 147% compared to the average daily volume of 1,826 put options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Entergy

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pathstone Holdings LLC raised its position in Entergy by 6.9% during the third quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 16,862 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,219,000 after acquiring an additional 1,081 shares in the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new position in shares of Entergy during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $564,000. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Entergy by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 33,768 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,444,000 after purchasing an additional 2,287 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Entergy by 13.9% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 215,070 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,305,000 after purchasing an additional 26,167 shares during the period. Finally, Nicolet Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Entergy during the third quarter worth $225,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.07% of the company’s stock.

Entergy Stock Down 1.3 %

Entergy stock opened at $82.92 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $83.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $75.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.72. The company has a market cap of $35.72 billion, a PE ratio of 34.05, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.68. Entergy has a fifty-two week low of $50.19 and a fifty-two week high of $88.38.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.03. Entergy had a return on equity of 10.68% and a net margin of 8.90%. The firm had revenue of $2.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.24 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.26 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Entergy will post 3.88 EPS for the current year.

Entergy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Entergy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 98.77%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Scotiabank cut their target price on Entergy from $165.00 to $82.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Entergy from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Entergy from $79.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. StockNews.com raised shares of Entergy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, December 29th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Entergy from $86.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.75.

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.