New York State Teachers Retirement System Boosts Stock Position in Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR)

New York State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) by 99.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 436,386 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 217,190 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Entergy were worth $33,087,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Entergy by 53.0% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,718,859 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $754,318,000 after buying an additional 1,981,611 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in Entergy by 139.5% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,423,556 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $183,754,000 after purchasing an additional 1,411,473 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Entergy by 60.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,589,727 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $472,444,000 after purchasing an additional 1,354,355 shares during the period. Confluence Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Entergy by 96.0% during the 4th quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 1,607,273 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $121,863,000 after purchasing an additional 787,367 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Entergy by 1,490.4% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 687,874 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $52,155,000 after purchasing an additional 644,622 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on Entergy from $72.50 to $82.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group boosted their price target on Entergy from $72.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Entergy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $86.50 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on Entergy from $165.00 to $82.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Bank of America cut Entergy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $69.00 to $77.00 in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Entergy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.81.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Deanna D. Rodriguez sold 6,088 shares of Entergy stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.94, for a total transaction of $450,146.72. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,952 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $292,210.88. This trade represents a 60.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Entergy Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:ETR opened at $82.64 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77. Entergy Corporation has a 12 month low of $48.93 and a 12 month high of $84.46. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $78.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $70.56. The company has a market cap of $35.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.13, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.72.

Entergy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. Entergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.