Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR) Position Boosted by Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR) by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Entergy were worth $303,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in ETR. Founders Financial Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Entergy during the 1st quarter valued at about $206,000. LVW Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Entergy by 22.7% in the first quarter. LVW Advisors LLC now owns 2,425 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $256,000 after buying an additional 448 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Entergy by 0.4% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 511,645 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $54,071,000 after buying an additional 1,992 shares during the period. Norden Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Entergy in the first quarter worth about $3,298,000. Finally, Leeward Investments LLC MA boosted its holdings in shares of Entergy by 4.0% in the first quarter. Leeward Investments LLC MA now owns 129,619 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $13,698,000 after buying an additional 4,973 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Entergy

In other news, CEO Andrew S. Marsh sold 3,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.46, for a total value of $388,672.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 150,731 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,307,787.26. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Entergy news, COO Peter S. Norgeot, Jr. sold 11,472 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.16, for a total value of $1,321,115.52. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 37,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,363,182.08. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Andrew S. Marsh sold 3,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.46, for a total value of $388,672.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 150,731 shares in the company, valued at $18,307,787.26. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. 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 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ETR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Entergy from $115.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Entergy from $143.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Entergy from $137.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Entergy from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Entergy from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Entergy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.19.

Entergy Price Performance

Shares of ETR opened at $136.33 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $29.15 billion, a PE ratio of 16.31, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.74. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $127.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $116.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.94. Entergy Co. has a twelve month low of $92.31 and a twelve month high of $138.24.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.98 billion. Entergy had a net margin of 14.75% and a return on equity of 10.10%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.84 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Entergy Co. will post 7.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Entergy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be issued a dividend of $1.20 per share. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 13th. This is an increase from Entergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.13. Entergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.07%.

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.