Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) Short Interest Update

Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,970,000 shares, a growth of 53.4% from the November 30th total of 3,240,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 3,500,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.4 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Deanna D. Rodriguez sold 6,088 shares of Entergy stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.94, for a total transaction of $450,146.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,952 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $292,210.88. The trade was a 60.64 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Eliecer Viamontes sold 400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.50, for a total transaction of $29,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 8,346 shares in the company, valued at $613,431. The trade was a 4.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 14,756 shares of company stock valued at $1,095,637 over the last ninety days. 0.39% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Entergy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Entergy by 60.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,589,727 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $472,444,000 after buying an additional 1,354,355 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Entergy by 4.0% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 280,262 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,885,000 after acquiring an additional 10,697 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Entergy by 35.9% during the third quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 13,076 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,723,000 after purchasing an additional 3,456 shares during the period. DGS Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Entergy by 17.9% during the third quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 4,141 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $545,000 after purchasing an additional 628 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Entergy by 53.0% in 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.07% of the company’s stock.

Entergy Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE:ETR opened at $75.76 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $73.95 and a 200 day moving average of $64.28. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77. Entergy has a 52 week low of $48.08 and a 52 week high of $79.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.46, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.71.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last released its 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 net margin of 14.83% and a return on equity of 9.53%. The company had revenue of $3.39 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.64 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Entergy will post 3.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Entergy Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 13th. Entergy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.39%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ETR shares. Barclays increased their price target on Entergy from $68.50 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Entergy from $72.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Entergy from $68.50 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America cut shares of Entergy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $69.00 to $77.00 in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Entergy from $69.00 to $82.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Entergy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $77.40.

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.