BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. Reduces Stock Holdings in Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR)

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. reduced its stake in shares of Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR) by 47.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,481 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 28,876 shares during the quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A.’s holdings in Entergy were worth $3,368,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital International Investors raised its stake in Entergy by 64.2% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,170,045 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $440,690,000 after buying an additional 1,630,057 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Entergy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $127,675,000. Confluence Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Entergy in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $92,257,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Entergy by 25.2% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,961,859 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $400,901,000 after purchasing an additional 796,316 shares during the period. Finally, ClearBridge Investments Ltd boosted its position in shares of Entergy by 29.3% during the fourth quarter. ClearBridge Investments Ltd now owns 3,115,468 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $315,254,000 after purchasing an additional 706,059 shares in the last quarter. 88.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Guggenheim raised their price objective on Entergy from $118.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Entergy from $112.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 20th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Entergy from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Entergy from $131.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Entergy from $100.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $123.04.

Entergy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ETR opened at $120.69 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $113.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $108.29. Entergy Co. has a 52-week low of $87.10 and a 52-week high of $123.61. The company has a market cap of $25.77 billion, a PE ratio of 12.11, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.98 billion. Entergy had a net margin of 14.75% and a return on equity of 10.10%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.84 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Entergy Co. will post 7.21 EPS for the current year.

Entergy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 13th will be given a dividend of $1.13 per share. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 13th. Entergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Entergy

In other Entergy news, CEO Andrew S. Marsh sold 3,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.46, for a total transaction of $388,672.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 150,731 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,307,787.26. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Andrew S. Marsh sold 3,200 shares of Entergy stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.46, for a total transaction of $388,672.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 150,731 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,307,787.26. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Peter S. Norgeot, Jr. sold 11,472 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.16, for a total value of $1,321,115.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 37,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,363,182.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 15,272 shares of company stock valued at $1,781,806. 0.39% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.