Tredje AP fonden Cuts Stake in Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR)

Tredje AP fonden lessened its stake in Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR) by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 32,960 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 519 shares during the quarter. Tredje AP fonden’s holdings in Entergy were worth $3,527,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on ETR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Entergy from $131.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $109.50 price target (down from $117.00) on shares of Entergy in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Entergy from $125.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Argus raised shares of Entergy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price target on Entergy from $123.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $125.35.

Entergy Price Performance

NYSE ETR opened at $128.61 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $117.73 and its 200 day moving average is $110.50. Entergy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $87.10 and a fifty-two week high of $129.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.94. The company has a market capitalization of $27.46 billion, a PE ratio of 12.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.73.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by $0.16. The company 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 period in the previous year, the company posted $1.84 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Entergy Co. will post 7.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Entergy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 13th were given a dividend of $1.13 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 13th. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.51%. Entergy’s payout ratio is 45.34%.

Insider Activity at Entergy

In other Entergy news, COO Peter S. Norgeot, Jr. sold 3,250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.56, for a total value of $398,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 34,993 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,288,742.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Entergy news, CEO Andrew S. Marsh sold 19,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.35, for a total value of $2,310,720.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 150,731 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,140,475.85. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Peter S. Norgeot, Jr. sold 3,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.56, for a total value of $398,320.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 34,993 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,288,742.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 42,888 shares of company stock worth $5,110,766. 0.39% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.