Morgan Stanley Upgrades Entergy (NYSE:ETR) to “Equal Weight”

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) was upgraded by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a note issued to investors on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm currently has a $150.00 price objective on the utilities provider’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $116.00. Morgan Stanley’s price target points to a potential upside of 2.77% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Entergy from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Entergy from $131.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Entergy from $137.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Entergy from $138.00 to $137.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their target price on Entergy from $119.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $150.96.

Entergy Price Performance

ETR opened at $145.95 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $130.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $117.88. Entergy has a fifty-two week low of $94.85 and a fifty-two week high of $156.85. The firm has a market cap of $31.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.71.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $2.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $3.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.46 billion. Entergy had a return on equity of 9.53% and a net margin of 14.83%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.27 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Entergy will post 7.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Entergy

In other news, CEO Andrew S. Marsh sold 600 shares of Entergy stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.03, for a total value of $72,018.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 150,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,092,241.93. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Eliecer Viamontes sold 5,166 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total transaction of $619,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 5,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $614,040. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Andrew S. Marsh sold 600 shares of Entergy stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.03, for a total value of $72,018.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 150,731 shares in the company, valued at $18,092,241.93. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 47,610 shares of company stock valued at $5,751,954. 0.54% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Entergy

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ETR. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Entergy by 14.8% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 7,957 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,047,000 after acquiring an additional 1,023 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Entergy by 21.6% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,971 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $391,000 after purchasing an additional 528 shares in the last quarter. Simmons Bank raised its stake in Entergy by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Simmons Bank now owns 22,612 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,976,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Entergy by 3.2% in the third quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,727 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $491,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Heartland Consultants Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Entergy in the third quarter worth $379,000. 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.