Foundry Partners LLC Reduces Position in Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR)

Foundry Partners LLC lowered its position in Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) by 9.1% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,397 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 543 shares during the period. Foundry Partners LLC’s holdings in Entergy were worth $710,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ETR. Quent Capital LLC increased its position in Entergy by 21.7% in the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 550 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Entergy in the first quarter valued at approximately $291,000. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Entergy by 15.9% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 3,082 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $325,000 after purchasing an additional 423 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its stake in shares of Entergy by 1.8% during the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 93,009 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,837,000 after purchasing an additional 1,660 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Shell Asset Management Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Entergy during the first quarter worth $378,000. 88.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Entergy Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE:ETR opened at $151.06 on Friday. Entergy Corporation has a 52-week low of $96.15 and a 52-week high of $156.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $137.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $121.50. The company has a market capitalization of $32.39 billion, a PE ratio of 18.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.71.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $2.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $3.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.46 billion. Entergy had a net margin of 14.83% and a return on equity of 9.53%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.27 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Entergy Corporation will post 7.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Entergy Increases Dividend

The business 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 is an increase from Entergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.13. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.18%. Entergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.47%.

Insider Transactions at Entergy

In other news, insider Haley Fisackerly sold 4,134 shares of Entergy stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were 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 directly owns 2,016 shares in the company, valued at $300,444.48. The trade was a 67.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Andrew S. Marsh sold 19,200 shares of the company’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 transaction of $2,310,720.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 150,731 shares in the company, valued at $18,140,475.85. The trade was a 11.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 40,472 shares of company stock valued at $5,076,328 over the last three months. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Entergy from $137.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Entergy from $131.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Entergy from $143.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Scotiabank increased their target price on Entergy from $119.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their price target on Entergy from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $150.42.

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.