Raymond James Trust N.A. Acquires 1,105 Shares of Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR)

Raymond James Trust N.A. increased its holdings in Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) by 4.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,645 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,105 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A.’s holdings in Entergy were worth $3,112,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC increased its holdings in shares of Entergy by 12.4% in the second quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 6,926,492 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $741,135,000 after buying an additional 763,834 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in Entergy by 47.1% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,479,044 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $693,260,000 after purchasing an additional 2,075,776 shares during the period. ClearBridge Investments Ltd increased its stake in Entergy by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. ClearBridge Investments Ltd now owns 3,137,110 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $335,671,000 after purchasing an additional 20,025 shares during the period. Boston Partners lifted its position in Entergy by 4.2% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,259,877 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $238,828,000 after purchasing an additional 91,655 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Entergy by 185.5% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,876,672 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $200,804,000 after purchasing an additional 1,219,419 shares during the period. 88.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on ETR. Argus raised shares of Entergy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Entergy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Entergy from $137.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Entergy from $131.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Entergy from $143.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Five equities research 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. According to MarketBeat, Entergy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $150.42.

Insider Transactions at Entergy

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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $614,040. This represents a 50.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Andrew S. Marsh sold 19,200 shares of Entergy stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.35, for a total value of $2,310,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 150,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,140,475.85. The trade was a 11.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 40,472 shares of company stock worth $5,076,328. Corporate insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Entergy Trading Down 0.3 %

ETR opened at $151.06 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $32.39 billion, a PE ratio of 18.40, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.71. The business has a 50 day moving average of $137.74 and a 200-day moving average of $121.50. Entergy Corporation has a 52 week low of $96.15 and a 52 week high of $156.85. 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 (NYSE:ETR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $2.99 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.08. Entergy had a return on equity of 9.53% and a net margin of 14.83%. The firm had revenue of $3.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.27 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Entergy Corporation will post 7.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Entergy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be issued a $1.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 13th. This is a boost from Entergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.13. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.18%. Entergy’s payout ratio is 58.47%.

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.