Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR) Shares Purchased by Ameriprise Financial Inc.

Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR) by 47.1% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 6,479,044 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,075,776 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc.’s holdings in Entergy were worth $693,260,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ETR. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Entergy by 6.3% during the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 234,595 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,275,000 after purchasing an additional 13,882 shares during the period. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC lifted its stake in shares of Entergy by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 55,261 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,592,000 after acquiring an additional 5,509 shares during the period. Groupama Asset Managment purchased a new stake in shares of Entergy in the fourth quarter valued at about $15,783,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Entergy by 55.4% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 14,877 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,571,000 after acquiring an additional 5,303 shares during the period. Finally, Viking Fund Management LLC raised its holdings in Entergy by 6.3% during the first quarter. Viking Fund Management LLC now owns 125,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $13,273,000 after purchasing an additional 7,400 shares in the last quarter. 88.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Entergy news, CEO Andrew S. Marsh sold 19,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.35, for a total transaction of $2,310,720.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 150,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,140,475.85. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Andrew S. Marsh sold 19,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.35, for a total value of $2,310,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 150,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,140,475.85. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Peter S. Norgeot, Jr. sold 7,922 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total transaction of $1,029,860.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 34,993 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,549,090. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 50,810 shares of company stock worth $6,140,626. 0.39% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on ETR shares. Argus raised Entergy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Entergy from $125.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Guggenheim upped their price objective on Entergy from $118.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Barclays raised Entergy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $115.00 to $138.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Entergy from $123.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Entergy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $127.81.

Entergy Stock Performance

Shares of ETR opened at $129.58 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $119.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $111.44. The stock has a market cap of $27.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.00, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.73. Entergy Co. has a 12-month low of $87.10 and a 12-month high of $131.03. 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 (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 the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 firm posted $1.84 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Entergy Co. will post 7.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Entergy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 13th were paid a dividend of $1.13 per share. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 13th. Entergy’s payout ratio is currently 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.