Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Raises Position in Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR)

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) by 102.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 236,916 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 120,030 shares during the quarter. Entergy makes up about 1.2% of Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC owned 0.06% of Entergy worth $17,963,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in ETR. Pathstone Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of Entergy by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 16,862 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,219,000 after buying an additional 1,081 shares during the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Entergy by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 5,281 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $695,000 after buying an additional 485 shares during the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new stake in shares of Entergy during the 3rd quarter worth $564,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Entergy by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 89,901 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,832,000 after buying an additional 1,025 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Entergy during the 3rd quarter worth $3,001,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.07% of the company’s stock.

Entergy Stock Performance

NYSE ETR opened at $83.74 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $36.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.39, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.68. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $82.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $74.96. Entergy Corporation has a twelve month low of $50.19 and a twelve month high of $88.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81.

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

Entergy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.87%. Entergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 98.77%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on ETR shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Entergy from $87.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. StockNews.com raised shares of Entergy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, December 29th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of Entergy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $86.50 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Entergy from $85.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of Entergy from $165.00 to $82.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Six investment 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Entergy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.75.

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.