Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) Stake Raised by HM Payson & Co.

HM Payson & Co. increased its holdings in Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) by 106.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,213 shares during the period. HM Payson & Co.’s holdings in Entergy were worth $326,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ETR. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Entergy by 53.0% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,718,859 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $754,318,000 after acquiring an additional 1,981,611 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in Entergy by 139.5% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,423,556 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $183,754,000 after acquiring an additional 1,411,473 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Entergy by 105.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,748,828 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $208,416,000 after acquiring an additional 1,408,476 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Entergy by 60.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,589,727 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $472,444,000 after acquiring an additional 1,354,355 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Entergy in the 4th quarter worth about $101,133,000. 88.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Entergy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ETR opened at $81.23 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.72. The firm has a market cap of $34.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.68. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $81.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $73.50. Entergy Corporation has a 52 week low of $50.19 and a 52 week high of $88.38.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.24 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.26 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Entergy Corporation will post 3.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Entergy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.95%. Entergy’s payout ratio is 98.77%.

Insider Activity at Entergy

In related news, insider Deanna D. Rodriguez sold 6,088 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.94, for a total transaction of $450,146.72. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 3,952 shares in the company, valued at $292,210.88. This represents a 60.64 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.39% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on ETR shares. UBS Group upped their target price 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 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank dropped their target price 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. KeyCorp lowered Entergy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Entergy from $79.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Six equities research 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.14.

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.