Richardson Financial Services Inc. Lowers Stake in Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR)

Richardson Financial Services Inc. decreased its position in shares of Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR) by 13.6% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,063 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 326 shares during the quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Entergy were worth $221,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Entergy by 6.3% during the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 234,595 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,275,000 after purchasing an additional 13,882 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC boosted its stake in Entergy by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 55,261 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,592,000 after buying an additional 5,509 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Entergy in the 4th quarter valued at about $127,675,000. Groupama Asset Managment acquired a new position in shares of Entergy during the 4th quarter valued at about $15,783,000. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Entergy by 55.4% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 14,877 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,571,000 after acquiring an additional 5,303 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.07% of the company’s stock.

Entergy Stock Performance

NYSE:ETR opened at $128.61 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $117.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $110.50. 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 stock has a market cap of $27.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.90, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.73. Entergy Co. has a 1-year low of $87.10 and a 1-year high of $129.66.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 the consensus estimate of $2.98 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.84 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Entergy Co. will post 7.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Entergy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 13th were paid a $1.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 13th. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.51%. Entergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.34%.

Insider Activity at Entergy

In other Entergy news, COO Peter S. Norgeot, Jr. sold 11,472 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.16, for a total transaction of $1,321,115.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 37,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,363,182.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Andrew S. Marsh sold 3,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.46, for a total transaction of $388,672.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 150,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,307,787.26. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Peter S. Norgeot, Jr. sold 11,472 shares of Entergy stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.16, for a total transaction of $1,321,115.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 37,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,363,182.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 42,888 shares of company stock valued at $5,110,766 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ETR. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Entergy from $124.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Barclays upgraded Entergy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $115.00 to $138.00 in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company increased 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. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Entergy from $123.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Argus upgraded Entergy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $125.35.

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.