Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR) Short Interest Up 9.0% in September

Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 3,380,000 shares, a growth of 9.0% from the September 15th total of 3,100,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,650,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.0 days.

Insider Activity at Entergy

In other news, CEO Andrew S. Marsh sold 19,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.35, for a total transaction of $2,310,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 150,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,140,475.85. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CEO Andrew S. Marsh sold 3,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.46, for a total transaction of $388,672.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 150,731 shares in the company, valued at $18,307,787.26. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Andrew S. Marsh sold 19,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.35, for a total value of $2,310,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 150,731 shares in the company, valued at $18,140,475.85. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 50,810 shares of company stock worth $6,140,626. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Entergy

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Entergy by 12.4% in the 2nd quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 6,926,492 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $741,135,000 after acquiring an additional 763,834 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Entergy by 47.1% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,479,044 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $693,260,000 after acquiring an additional 2,075,776 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Entergy by 64.2% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,170,045 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $440,690,000 after acquiring an additional 1,630,057 shares during the last quarter. ClearBridge Investments Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Entergy by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. ClearBridge Investments Ltd now owns 3,137,110 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $335,671,000 after acquiring an additional 20,025 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Entergy by 22.5% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,753,248 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $290,963,000 after acquiring an additional 505,705 shares during the last quarter. 88.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Entergy Price Performance

Entergy stock traded up $0.33 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $134.65. 1,071,761 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,562,740. Entergy has a one year low of $90.78 and a one year high of $135.16. The stock has a market cap of $28.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.74. 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 fifty day moving average price of $125.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $114.54.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.16. Entergy had a net margin of 14.75% and a return on equity of 10.10%. The business had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.98 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.84 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Entergy will post 7.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Entergy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 13th were issued a $1.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 13th. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.36%. Entergy’s payout ratio is 45.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Entergy from $137.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Bank of America upped their price target on Entergy from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Entergy from $138.00 to $137.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Entergy from $131.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Entergy from $125.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $130.96.

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.