Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR) Shares Sold by Sentry Investment Management LLC

Sentry Investment Management LLC reduced its position in Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR) by 17.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 923 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 189 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Entergy were worth $99,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of ETR. LPL Financial LLC grew its stake in Entergy by 9.9% during the 2nd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 430,896 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $46,106,000 after purchasing an additional 38,856 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL boosted its stake in shares of Entergy by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL now owns 377,007 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $40,340,000 after buying an additional 7,837 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Entergy during the second quarter worth approximately $623,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Entergy by 10.6% in the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 23,209 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,483,000 after buying an additional 2,226 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bright Futures Wealth Management LLC. raised its holdings in Entergy by 12.3% in the second quarter. Bright Futures Wealth Management LLC. now owns 8,322 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $890,000 after acquiring an additional 914 shares in the last quarter. 88.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on ETR. Argus raised shares of Entergy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Entergy from $115.00 to $119.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $109.50 target price (down previously from $117.00) on shares of Entergy in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Entergy from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Entergy from $124.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $123.04.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Peter S. Norgeot, Jr. sold 11,472 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.16, for a total value of $1,321,115.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 37,888 shares in the company, valued at $4,363,182.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, COO Peter S. Norgeot, Jr. sold 11,472 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 37,888 shares in the company, valued at $4,363,182.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Peter S. Norgeot, Jr. sold 3,250 shares of Entergy stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.56, for a total value of $398,320.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 34,993 shares in the company, valued at $4,288,742.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 42,888 shares of company stock worth $5,110,766. 0.39% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Entergy Price Performance

NYSE ETR opened at $123.57 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $115.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $109.66. The stock has a market cap of $26.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. Entergy Co. has a 52 week low of $87.10 and a 52 week high of $123.73.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by $0.16. Entergy had a return on equity of 10.10% and a net margin of 14.75%. The business had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.98 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.84 EPS. Analysts forecast that Entergy Co. will post 7.21 EPS for the current year.

Entergy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 13th were given a $1.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 13th. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.66%. Entergy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.34%.

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.