Morgan Stanley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Entergy (NYSE:ETR) Stock

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) had its price objective boosted by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from $75.00 to $78.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective indicates a potential downside of 7.69% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on ETR. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of Entergy from $165.00 to $82.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Entergy from $79.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Entergy from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Entergy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, December 29th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Entergy from $72.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.32.

Entergy Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of Entergy stock traded down $0.16 during trading on Thursday, hitting $84.50. The stock had a trading volume of 589,273 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,289,278. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $82.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $74.73. The stock has a market cap of $36.37 billion, a PE ratio of 34.71, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.59. Entergy has a 12 month low of $50.19 and a 12 month high of $88.38.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.24 billion. Entergy had a net margin of 8.90% and a return on equity of 10.68%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.26 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Entergy will post 3.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Entergy by 91.6% in the 4th quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 509,227 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $38,610,000 after purchasing an additional 243,433 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Entergy by 230.9% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 96,526 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,319,000 after purchasing an additional 67,352 shares during the period. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ acquired a new position in shares of Entergy in the 4th quarter valued at $10,389,000. Northstar Financial Companies Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Entergy in the 4th quarter valued at $262,000. Finally, Anchor Pointe Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Entergy in the 4th quarter valued at $241,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.07% of the company’s stock.

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.