Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR) Short Interest Update

Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,390,000 shares, a growth of 8.1% from the March 15th total of 2,210,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,370,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.7 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on ETR. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $117.00 price target on shares of Entergy in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Barclays reduced their price target on Entergy from $108.00 to $107.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Entergy from $110.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $109.78.

Insider Activity at Entergy

In related news, EVP Marcus V. Brown sold 8,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.84, for a total value of $874,140.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 9,911 shares in the company, valued at $1,019,247.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Deanna D. Rodriguez sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.23, for a total transaction of $151,845.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $348,433.66. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Marcus V. Brown sold 8,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.84, for a total transaction of $874,140.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,911 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,019,247.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 12,000 shares of company stock worth $1,226,685. 0.54% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Entergy

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Entergy by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,038,725 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,408,582,000 after buying an additional 104,803 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Entergy by 8.1% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,122,596 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,415,313,000 after buying an additional 908,932 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Entergy by 11.9% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,664,512 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $502,556,000 after buying an additional 497,482 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Entergy by 64.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,562,369 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $422,019,000 after acquiring an additional 1,787,977 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Entergy by 1.1% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,506,843 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $416,883,000 after acquiring an additional 48,047 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.07% of the company’s stock.

Entergy Stock Performance

ETR stock traded down $1.68 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $100.61. 1,578,477 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,239,630. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $102.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $99.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.71. Entergy has a one year low of $87.10 and a one year high of $109.85.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The utilities provider reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.52. Entergy had a return on equity of 10.54% and a net margin of 19.41%. The firm had revenue of $2.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.27 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.51 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Entergy will post 7.22 EPS for the current year.

Entergy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 2nd will be given a $1.13 dividend. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 1st. Entergy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.76%.

Entergy Company Profile

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.