Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR) by 19.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 29,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,747 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Entergy were worth $3,840,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Entergy by 6.3% in 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 acquiring an additional 13,882 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Entergy by 55.4% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 14,877 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,571,000 after buying an additional 5,303 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Entergy in the first quarter valued at $1,245,000. Cetera Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Entergy by 145.2% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 24,136 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,551,000 after acquiring an additional 14,293 shares during the last quarter. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Entergy by 17.5% during the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 41,605 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,397,000 after acquiring an additional 6,197 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.07% of the company’s stock.

Entergy Trading Up 15.1 %

Shares of NYSE:ETR opened at $154.75 on Friday. Entergy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $94.63 and a fifty-two week high of $156.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The company has a market cap of $33.09 billion, a PE ratio of 18.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.74. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $129.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $116.82.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.98 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.84 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Entergy Co. will post 7.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Entergy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be given a dividend of $1.20 per share. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 13th. This is a positive change from Entergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.13. Entergy’s payout ratio is 54.07%.

Insider Transactions at Entergy

In related news, COO Peter S. Norgeot, Jr. sold 7,922 shares of Entergy stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were 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 directly owns 34,993 shares in the company, valued at $4,549,090. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Entergy news, CEO Andrew S. Marsh sold 3,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.46, for a total transaction of $388,672.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 150,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,307,787.26. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Peter S. Norgeot, Jr. sold 7,922 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total value of $1,029,860.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 34,993 shares in the company, valued at $4,549,090. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 50,810 shares of company stock valued at $6,140,626. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ETR. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Entergy from $137.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Entergy from $131.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Entergy from $125.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Entergy from $109.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Entergy from $138.00 to $137.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.19.

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.