First Bank & Trust Acquires 18,286 Shares of Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR)

First Bank & Trust increased its holdings in shares of Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) by 89.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 38,793 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,286 shares during the quarter. First Bank & Trust’s holdings in Entergy were worth $2,941,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Entergy by 88.9% during the fourth quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,172 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $771,000 after buying an additional 4,787 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Alliance grew its holdings in Entergy by 32.5% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 10,957 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $831,000 after purchasing an additional 2,686 shares during the period. LMG Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Entergy by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. LMG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 17,710 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,343,000 after purchasing an additional 8,855 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its holdings in Entergy by 93.2% during the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 18,454 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,399,000 after purchasing an additional 8,903 shares during the period. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its holdings in Entergy by 109.4% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 15,974 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,211,000 after purchasing an additional 8,345 shares during the period. 88.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Entergy Stock Performance

Shares of ETR opened at $87.31 on Thursday. Entergy Corporation has a 12 month low of $49.80 and a 12 month high of $88.38. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $78.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $71.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.85, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.03. Entergy had a net margin of 8.90% and a return on equity of 10.75%. The business had revenue of $2.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.24 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.26 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Entergy Corporation will post 3.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Entergy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. Entergy’s payout ratio is 98.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Deanna D. Rodriguez sold 6,088 shares of the 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 represents a 60.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ETR has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Entergy from $72.50 to $82.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of Entergy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $86.50 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. KeyCorp cut shares of Entergy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Entergy from $79.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Entergy from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Entergy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.14.

Entergy 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.