Smith Group Asset Management LLC Purchases New Position in Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR)

Smith Group Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 6,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $455,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ETR. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Entergy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Cetera Trust Company N.A acquired a new stake in shares of Entergy in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its position in shares of Entergy by 423.8% during the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 220 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. IFS Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Entergy in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Ulland Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Entergy by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. Ulland Investment Advisors LLC now owns 400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Entergy from $68.50 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Entergy from $68.50 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Entergy from $83.00 to $79.50 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 18th. KeyCorp cut shares of Entergy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Bank of America cut shares of Entergy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $69.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $77.37.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Eliecer Viamontes sold 400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.50, for a total transaction of $29,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 8,346 shares of the company’s stock, 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 SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Deanna D. Rodriguez sold 6,088 shares of Entergy stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.94, for a total transaction of $450,146.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 3,952 shares in the company, valued at approximately $292,210.88. This trade represents a 60.64 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 14,756 shares of company stock worth $1,095,637. 0.39% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Entergy Stock Performance

NYSE:ETR opened at $79.43 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77. The company has a market capitalization of $34.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.71. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $76.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $68.34. Entergy Corporation has a twelve month low of $48.08 and a twelve month high of $84.26.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $3.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.46 billion. Entergy had a return on equity of 9.53% and a net margin of 14.83%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.64 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Entergy Corporation will post 3.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.