Entergy (NYSE:ETR) Rating Lowered to Sell at StockNews.com

Entergy (NYSE:ETR - Get Free Report) was downgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report issued on Friday.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group raised their price objective on Entergy from $143.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Barclays lowered their target price on Entergy from $138.00 to $137.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Entergy from $137.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Entergy from $146.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Entergy from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Entergy presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $141.96.

Entergy Stock Performance

ETR traded down $9.99 on Friday, reaching $144.79. The company had a trading volume of 3,829,226 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,598,875. Entergy has a fifty-two week low of $94.85 and a fifty-two week high of $156.85. The company's fifty day moving average is $129.72 and its 200 day moving average is $117.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.94. The stock has a market cap of $30.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.74.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $2.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.08. Entergy had a return on equity of 10.10% and a net margin of 14.75%. The firm had revenue of $3.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.46 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.27 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Entergy will post 7.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Entergy

In other Entergy news, COO Peter S. Norgeot, Jr. sold 11,472 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 37,888 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,363,182.08. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, COO Peter S. Norgeot, Jr. sold 11,472 shares of Entergy stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.16, for a total value of $1,321,115.52. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 37,888 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,363,182.08. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Andrew S. Marsh sold 600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.03, for a total transaction of $72,018.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 150,731 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,092,241.93. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 50,810 shares of company stock worth $6,140,626. Insiders own 0.39% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Entergy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System grew its position in Entergy by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 234,595 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $25,275,000 after purchasing an additional 13,882 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Entergy by 55.4% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 14,877 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,571,000 after buying an additional 5,303 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Entergy during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,245,000. Cetera Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Entergy by 145.2% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 24,136 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,551,000 after acquiring an additional 14,293 shares during the last quarter. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Entergy by 17.5% in the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 41,605 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $4,397,000 after purchasing an additional 6,197 shares during the last quarter. 88.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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