Wealthspire Advisors LLC Boosts Position in Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR)

Wealthspire Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) by 103.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 7,006 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,558 shares during the quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC’s holdings in Entergy were worth $531,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its stake in Entergy by 21.4% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 986,546 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $129,840,000 after buying an additional 174,093 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in Entergy by 40.7% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 18,597 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,448,000 after buying an additional 5,381 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Entergy by 4.0% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 280,262 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,885,000 after buying an additional 10,697 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in Entergy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,393,000. Finally, Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Entergy by 74.3% in the fourth quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 7,959 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $603,000 after buying an additional 3,393 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.07% of the company’s stock.

Entergy Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of ETR stock opened at $86.09 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $80.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $72.15. Entergy Corporation has a 1-year low of $49.80 and a 1-year high of $88.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.05 billion, a PE ratio of 35.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.59.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.03. Entergy had a return on equity of 10.68% and a net margin of 8.90%. The firm had revenue of $2.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.24 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.26 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Entergy Corporation will post 3.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Entergy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. Entergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 98.77%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Entergy from $79.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Entergy from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $58.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Scotiabank cut their price target on Entergy from $165.00 to $82.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays upped their price target on Entergy from $68.50 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded Entergy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $86.50 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Entergy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.14.

Insider Buying and Selling at Entergy

In other Entergy news, insider Deanna D. Rodriguez sold 6,088 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.94, for a total value of $450,146.72. Following the sale, the insider now owns 3,952 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $292,210.88. This represents a 60.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.39% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Entergy 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.