Principal Financial Group Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR) by 4.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 280,262 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 10,697 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.13% of Entergy worth $36,885,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Entergy in the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Heritage Wealth Advisors increased its stake in Entergy by 2,172.7% during the 1st quarter. Heritage Wealth Advisors now owns 250 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 239 shares during the period. Cetera Trust Company N.A acquired a new position in shares of Entergy during the third quarter worth about $29,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its holdings in Entergy by 423.8% in the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 220 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American National Bank boosted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Eliecer Viamontes sold 200 shares of Entergy stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.00, for a total transaction of $29,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 4,173 shares in the company, valued at approximately $613,431. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CEO Andrew S. Marsh sold 600 shares of Entergy stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.03, for a total value of $72,018.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 150,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,092,241.93. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Eliecer Viamontes sold 200 shares of Entergy stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.00, for a total value of $29,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 4,173 shares in the company, valued at approximately $613,431. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 36,338 shares of company stock worth $4,460,238 over the last quarter. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ETR. Argus raised shares of Entergy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Entergy from $143.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Entergy from $146.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Entergy from $131.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on Entergy from $138.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Entergy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $150.96.

Entergy Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE ETR opened at $150.35 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The stock has a market cap of $32.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.71. Entergy Co. has a 1 year low of $94.85 and a 1 year high of $156.85. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $132.34 and a 200 day moving average of $118.72.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $2.99 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.08. Entergy had a net margin of 14.83% and a return on equity of 9.53%. The firm had revenue of $3.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.46 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.27 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Entergy Co. will post 7.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Entergy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be given a dividend of $1.20 per share. This is a positive change from Entergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.13. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.19%. Entergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.05%.

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.