Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Buys 1,023 Shares of Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR) by 14.8% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 7,957 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,023 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Entergy were worth $1,047,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank & Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of Entergy by 12.8% during the 3rd quarter. Bank & Trust Co now owns 795 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $105,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Prossimo Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Entergy by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Prossimo Advisors LLC now owns 5,971 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $786,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Entergy by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 4,075 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $436,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Entergy by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,591 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $341,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Entergy by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 1,858 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $245,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. 88.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ETR has been the subject of several recent research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Entergy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 9th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Entergy from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $116.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Entergy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $138.00 to $154.00 in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Guggenheim boosted their price target on shares of Entergy from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Entergy from $119.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $150.42.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Entergy news, insider Eliecer Viamontes sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.00, for a total value of $29,400.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 4,173 shares in the company, valued at approximately $613,431. This represents a 4.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Haley Fisackerly sold 4,134 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.03, for a total transaction of $616,090.02. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 2,016 shares in the company, valued at approximately $300,444.48. This trade represents a 67.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 40,472 shares of company stock worth $5,076,328. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Entergy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ETR opened at $149.20 on Tuesday. Entergy Co. has a 1 year low of $96.15 and a 1 year high of $156.85. 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 company’s 50-day moving average is $135.56 and its 200 day moving average is $120.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.71.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $2.99 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $3.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.27 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Entergy Co. will post 7.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Entergy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be issued a $1.20 dividend. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 13th. This is a boost from Entergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.13. Entergy’s dividend payout ratio is 58.47%.

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.