Entergy (NYSE:ETR) Price Target Cut to $82.00 by Analysts at Scotiabank

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) had its price target decreased by Scotiabank from $165.00 to $82.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “sector perform” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Scotiabank’s price target points to a potential upside of 7.81% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on ETR. StockNews.com raised shares of Entergy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, December 29th. Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of Entergy from $72.50 to $82.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Entergy from $69.00 to $82.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating 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 note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Bank of America cut Entergy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $69.00 to $77.00 in a report on Monday, November 4th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Entergy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $77.37.

Entergy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ETR traded up $0.80 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $76.06. The stock had a trading volume of 1,208,373 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,457,527. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77. The firm has a market cap of $32.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.53, a PEG 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 fifty-two week low of $48.08 and a fifty-two week high of $79.04.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.04. Entergy had a return on equity of 9.53% and a net margin of 14.83%. The firm had revenue of $3.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.46 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.64 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Entergy will post 3.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Entergy

In other news, insider Eliecer Viamontes sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.50, for a total value of $29,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 8,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $613,431. This represents a 4.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Haley Fisackerly sold 8,268 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.52, for a total transaction of $616,090.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 4,032 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $300,444.48. This represents a 67.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 14,756 shares of company stock valued at $1,095,637 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Entergy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ETR. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Entergy by 47.1% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,479,044 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $693,260,000 after acquiring an additional 2,075,776 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Entergy by 53.0% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,718,859 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $754,318,000 after purchasing an additional 1,981,611 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Entergy by 60.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,589,727 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $472,444,000 after purchasing an additional 1,354,355 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Entergy by 185.5% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,876,672 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $200,804,000 after purchasing an additional 1,219,419 shares during the period. Finally, Confluence Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Entergy by 96.0% in the 4th quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 1,607,273 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $121,863,000 after purchasing an additional 787,367 shares in the last quarter. 88.07% of the stock is currently owned by 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.