Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) Shares Bought by New York Life Investment Management LLC

New York Life Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) by 102.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 57,457 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 29,037 shares during the period. New York Life Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Entergy were worth $4,356,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Entergy by 1.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,408,776 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,501,509,000 after acquiring an additional 128,667 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Entergy by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,613,647 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $870,422,000 after purchasing an additional 315,750 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Entergy by 53.0% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,718,859 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $754,318,000 after purchasing an additional 1,981,611 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Entergy by 0.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,965,257 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $651,206,000 after purchasing an additional 37,279 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Entergy by 60.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,589,727 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $472,444,000 after buying an additional 1,354,355 shares during the last quarter. 88.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on ETR shares. Mizuho upped their price objective on Entergy from $69.00 to $82.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Entergy from $68.50 to $76.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Scotiabank cut their price target 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. KeyCorp lowered Entergy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Entergy from $72.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Six investment 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, Entergy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.14.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Deanna D. Rodriguez sold 6,088 shares of the company’s 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 owns 3,952 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $292,210.88. This represents a 60.64 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Entergy Stock Up 2.4 %

Shares of NYSE ETR opened at $87.29 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $80.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $72.53. Entergy Corporation has a 12-month low of $49.80 and a 12-month high of $88.38. The company has a market capitalization of $37.57 billion, a PE ratio of 35.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.72.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.03. Entergy had a return on equity of 10.68% and a net margin of 8.90%. The firm had revenue of $2.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.24 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.26 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Entergy Corporation will post 3.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Entergy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.75%. Entergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 98.77%.

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.