Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) Shares Bought by National Pension Service

National Pension Service increased its holdings in Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) by 82.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 662,518 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 299,215 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service’s holdings in Entergy were worth $50,232,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in Entergy by 21.4% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 986,546 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $129,840,000 after purchasing an additional 174,093 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of Entergy by 40.7% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 18,597 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,448,000 after acquiring an additional 5,381 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Entergy by 4.0% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 280,262 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,885,000 after acquiring an additional 10,697 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Entergy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,393,000. Finally, Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Entergy by 74.3% during the fourth quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 7,959 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $603,000 after acquiring an additional 3,393 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Entergy

In other Entergy news, insider Deanna D. Rodriguez sold 6,088 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.94, for a total value of $450,146.72. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,952 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $292,210.88. This represents a 60.64 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Entergy Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of Entergy stock opened at $85.26 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.02, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.72. Entergy Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $49.80 and a fifty-two week high of $88.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.72. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $80.35 and a 200 day moving average of $72.24.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last released its quarterly 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 return on equity of 10.68% and a net margin of 8.90%. The business had revenue of $2.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.24 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.26 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Entergy Corporation will post 3.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Entergy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. Entergy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 98.77%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ETR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Entergy from $79.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Guggenheim increased their target price on Entergy from $72.50 to $82.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Entergy from $85.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. StockNews.com raised Entergy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, December 29th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price target on Entergy from $69.00 to $82.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.14.

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.