Entergy (NYSE:ETR) Price Target Lowered to $82.00 at Scotiabank

Entergy (NYSE:ETR - Free Report) had its target price lowered by Scotiabank from $165.00 to $82.00 in a research note published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a sector perform rating on the utilities provider's stock.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on ETR. Morgan Stanley raised Entergy from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $58.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Entergy from $68.50 to $70.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Entergy from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $69.00 to $77.00 in a research report on Monday, November 4th. KeyCorp cut shares of Entergy from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Entergy from $83.00 to $79.50 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 18th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $77.37.

Entergy Stock Performance

NYSE:ETR traded up $0.70 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $75.96. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,420,015 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,770,379. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market cap of $32.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.71. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $74.89 and a 200-day moving average of $65.38. Entergy has a 12 month low of $48.08 and a 12 month high of $79.04.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $3.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.46 billion. Entergy had a net margin of 14.83% and a return on equity of 9.53%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.64 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Entergy will post 3.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Entergy Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 13th. Entergy's payout ratio is 58.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Entergy

In related news, insider Deanna D. Rodriguez sold 6,088 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.94, for a total value of $450,146.72. Following the sale, the insider now owns 3,952 shares in the company, valued at $292,210.88. This represents a 60.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Eliecer Viamontes sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.50, for a total value of $29,400.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,346 shares in the company, valued at $613,431. This represents a 4.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 14,756 shares of company stock worth $1,095,637 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.39% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Entergy during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its position in shares of Entergy by 423.8% in the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 220 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Trust Company N.A acquired a new stake in shares of Entergy in the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Coastline Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Entergy during the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Entergy in the 3rd quarter valued at $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.07% of the company's stock.

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.