The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Purchases 18,422 Shares of Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in shares of Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR) by 4.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 461,175 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,422 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Entergy were worth $49,346,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Entergy during the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Heritage Wealth Advisors lifted its stake in shares of Entergy by 2,172.7% in the first quarter. Heritage Wealth Advisors now owns 250 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 239 shares during the period. American National Bank lifted its stake in shares of Entergy by 93.7% in the second quarter. American National Bank now owns 277 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the period. TruNorth Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Entergy in the second quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new stake in shares of Entergy in the second quarter valued at about $34,000. 88.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Entergy Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of ETR opened at $131.13 on Monday. 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 cap of $28.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.15, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.73. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $120.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $111.88. Entergy Co. has a 52-week low of $87.10 and a 52-week high of $131.55.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 business posted $1.84 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Entergy Co. will post 7.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Entergy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors 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 yield of 3.45%. Entergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Andrew S. Marsh sold 3,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Andrew S. Marsh sold 3,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Peter S. Norgeot, Jr. sold 11,472 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 37,888 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,363,182.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 50,810 shares of company stock worth $6,140,626 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on ETR shares. Guggenheim increased 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 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. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Entergy from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Entergy from $143.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Entergy from $109.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Entergy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $127.81.

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.