IFP Advisors Inc Grows Position in Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR)

IFP Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) by 189.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,784 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,131 shares during the quarter. IFP Advisors Inc’s holdings in Entergy were worth $366,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Entergy by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,427 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $451,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Acropolis Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Entergy by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC now owns 8,836 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,163,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. lifted its stake in Entergy by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 8,087 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,065,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Prossimo Advisors LLC lifted its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its stake in Entergy by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 7,233 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $952,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. 88.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Entergy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $86.50 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. KeyCorp lowered Entergy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Bank of America lowered Entergy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $69.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Entergy from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Entergy from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $58.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.14.

Entergy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ETR opened at $87.29 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.72. Entergy Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $49.80 and a fifty-two week high of $88.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.57 billion, a PE ratio of 35.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.72. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $80.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.53.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.03. Entergy had a return on equity of 10.68% and a net margin of 8.90%. The business had revenue of $2.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.24 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.26 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Entergy Corporation will post 3.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Entergy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. Entergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 98.77%.

Insider Transactions at Entergy

In related news, insider Deanna D. Rodriguez sold 6,088 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.94, for a total transaction of $450,146.72. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 3,952 shares in the company, valued at $292,210.88. This trade represents a 60.64 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

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.