Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC Buys 1,792 Shares of Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR)

Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) by 109.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,428 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,792 shares during the period. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Entergy were worth $260,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Entergy by 2.1% during the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,427 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $451,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Entergy by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC now owns 8,836 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,163,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. boosted its position in Entergy by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 8,087 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,065,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its holdings in Entergy by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 7,233 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $952,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in Entergy by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,727 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $491,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on ETR shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Entergy from $79.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Entergy from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. StockNews.com raised Entergy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, December 29th. Scotiabank cut their price objective on Entergy from $165.00 to $82.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of Entergy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $86.50 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Entergy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.14.

Insider Transactions at Entergy

In other news, insider Deanna D. Rodriguez sold 6,088 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.94, for a total value of $450,146.72. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,952 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 is available through this hyperlink. 0.39% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Entergy Stock Down 4.3 %

Shares of NYSE ETR opened at $81.05 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The firm has a market cap of $34.88 billion, a PE ratio of 33.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.68. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $81.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $73.15. Entergy Corporation has a 12-month low of $50.19 and a 12-month high of $88.38.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.03. Entergy had a net margin of 8.90% and a return on equity of 10.68%. The company had revenue of $2.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.24 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.26 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.96%. Entergy’s dividend payout ratio is 98.77%.

About Entergy

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.