Van ECK Associates Corp Grows Position in Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR)

Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR) by 9.3% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 81,660 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,975 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Entergy were worth $8,738,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its holdings in Entergy by 12.5% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 3,874 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $392,000 after acquiring an additional 429 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Entergy by 32.9% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,978 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $301,000 after purchasing an additional 737 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Entergy by 94.9% during the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 2,388 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $242,000 after purchasing an additional 1,163 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Entergy by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 129,661 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $13,120,000 after buying an additional 5,025 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its holdings in Entergy by 467.2% in the 4th quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 6,897 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $698,000 after buying an additional 5,681 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Entergy

In related news, CEO Andrew S. Marsh sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.03, for a total transaction of $72,018.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 150,731 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,092,241.93. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Andrew S. Marsh sold 3,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.46, for a total value of $388,672.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 150,731 shares in the company, valued at $18,307,787.26. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Andrew S. Marsh sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.03, for a total value of $72,018.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 150,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,092,241.93. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 15,272 shares of company stock worth $1,781,806. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ETR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Entergy from $100.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $109.50 price target (down from $117.00) on shares of Entergy in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Entergy from $116.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 22nd. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Entergy from $112.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 20th. Finally, Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of Entergy from $118.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $123.04.

Entergy Trading Up 0.7 %

ETR opened at $120.69 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $113.31 and a 200 day moving average of $108.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. Entergy Co. has a 12 month low of $87.10 and a 12 month high of $123.61. The firm has a market cap of $25.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.71.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by $0.16. Entergy had a return on equity of 10.10% and a net margin of 14.75%. The firm had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.98 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.84 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Entergy Co. will post 7.2 EPS for the current year.

Entergy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 13th will be paid a $1.13 dividend. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.75%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 13th. Entergy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.34%.

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.