WINTON GROUP Ltd Buys Shares of 270,096 Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR)

WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 270,096 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $20,479,000. Entergy accounts for 1.4% of WINTON GROUP Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ETR. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Entergy in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. NBT Bank N A NY boosted its position in shares of Entergy by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. NBT Bank N A NY now owns 340 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the period. Fortis Group Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Entergy by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC now owns 344 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Duncker Streett & Co. Inc. grew its stake in shares of Entergy by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. Duncker Streett & Co. Inc. now owns 358 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sandy Spring Bank raised its holdings in shares of Entergy by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 358 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 179 shares during the period. 88.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Entergy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ETR opened at $84.05 on Thursday. Entergy Corporation has a 12 month low of $50.19 and a 12 month high of $88.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $83.25 and its 200 day moving average price is $75.53.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.66 earnings per share (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 company 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 posted $0.26 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Entergy Corporation will post 3.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Entergy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Entergy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 98.77%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on ETR. Scotiabank dropped their target price on Entergy from $165.00 to $82.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Entergy from $85.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. StockNews.com raised shares of Entergy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, December 29th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Entergy from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered Entergy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.75.

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.