Private Advisor Group LLC Boosts Stake in Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR)

Private Advisor Group LLC grew its position in shares of Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR) by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 6,318 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 123 shares during the quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Entergy were worth $676,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in Entergy by 64.2% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,170,045 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $440,690,000 after acquiring an additional 1,630,057 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Entergy during the 4th quarter valued at $127,675,000. Confluence Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Entergy during the 1st quarter worth $92,257,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Entergy by 25.2% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,961,859 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $400,901,000 after purchasing an additional 796,316 shares during the period. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Entergy by 89.2% in the 2nd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,073,603 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $114,876,000 after buying an additional 506,239 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ETR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Argus upgraded shares of Entergy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Entergy from $124.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on Entergy from $123.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Entergy from $125.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $109.50 target price (down from $117.00) on shares of Entergy in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $125.35.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Entergy news, COO Peter S. Norgeot, Jr. sold 3,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.56, for a total value of $398,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 34,993 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,288,742.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Entergy news, COO Peter S. Norgeot, Jr. sold 3,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.56, for a total value of $398,320.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 34,993 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,288,742.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Eliecer Viamontes sold 5,166 shares of Entergy stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $619,920.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 5,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $614,040. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 42,888 shares of company stock valued at $5,110,766. Company insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Entergy Price Performance

Entergy stock opened at $129.08 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.95, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.73. Entergy Co. has a one year low of $87.10 and a one year high of $129.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $117.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $110.37.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.98 billion. Entergy had a return on equity of 10.10% and a net margin of 14.75%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.84 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Entergy Co. will post 7.22 EPS for the current year.

Entergy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 13th were paid a dividend of $1.13 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 13th. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.50%. Entergy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.34%.

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.