Short Interest in Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) Rises By 32.6%

Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,590,000 shares, a growth of 32.6% from the December 31st total of 4,970,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,410,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.9 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ETR. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Entergy from $72.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Entergy from $83.00 to $79.50 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of Entergy from $72.50 to $82.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Entergy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Entergy from $68.50 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Entergy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $79.81.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Eliecer Viamontes sold 400 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 is available at this link. Also, insider Deanna D. Rodriguez sold 6,088 shares of the 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. This trade represents a 60.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 14,756 shares of company stock valued at $1,095,637 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Entergy

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Entergy by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,427 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $451,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. Acropolis Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Entergy by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC now owns 8,836 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,163,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Entergy by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 8,087 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,065,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. Bank & Trust Co grew its stake in shares of Entergy by 12.8% during the 3rd quarter. Bank & Trust Co now owns 795 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $105,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the period. Finally, Prossimo Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Entergy by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Prossimo Advisors LLC now owns 5,971 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $786,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the period. 88.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Entergy Trading Up 2.5 %

ETR stock traded up $1.96 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $81.20. The stock had a trading volume of 3,595,335 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,946,944. The firm has a market cap of $34.82 billion, a PE ratio of 19.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.59. Entergy has a 12-month low of $48.08 and a 12-month high of $84.26. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $77.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $68.42.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $3.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.46 billion. Entergy had a net margin of 14.83% and a return on equity of 9.53%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.64 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Entergy will post 3.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.