Entergy (NYSE:ETR) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume - What's Next?

Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR - Get Free Report) saw unusually-high trading volume on Tuesday . Approximately 2,262,287 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 30% from the previous session's volume of 3,249,205 shares.The stock last traded at $82.77 and had previously closed at $85.45.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on ETR. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Entergy from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Entergy from $79.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Entergy from $85.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of Entergy from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $86.50 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Entergy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, December 29th. Six equities research 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. According to MarketBeat, Entergy has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $84.75.

Remove Ads

Entergy Trading Down 1.1 %

The company has a market capitalization of $36.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $82.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $75.06. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.03. Entergy had a net margin of 8.90% and a return on equity of 10.68%. The business had revenue of $2.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.24 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.26 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Entergy Corporation will post 3.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Entergy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Entergy's payout ratio is presently 98.77%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ETR. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Entergy by 101.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,133,646 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,952,773,000 after purchasing an additional 26,312,267 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in shares of Entergy by 142.8% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 17,594,747 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,334,034,000 after acquiring an additional 10,347,926 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Entergy by 90.7% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 12,612,407 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $956,273,000 after buying an additional 5,998,760 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Entergy by 71.4% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 12,884,421 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $976,895,000 after buying an additional 5,368,396 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Entergy by 106.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,236,816 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $774,103,000 after purchasing an additional 5,271,559 shares during the period. 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.