Bank of Stockton Buys 4,043 Shares of Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR)

Bank of Stockton boosted its stake in Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) by 101.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 8,041 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,043 shares during the period. Bank of Stockton’s holdings in Entergy were worth $610,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp raised its position in Entergy by 1.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,408,776 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,501,509,000 after acquiring an additional 128,667 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its position in Entergy by 5.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,613,647 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $870,422,000 after acquiring an additional 315,750 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Entergy by 53.0% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,718,859 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $754,318,000 after acquiring an additional 1,981,611 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Entergy by 0.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,965,257 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $651,206,000 after acquiring an additional 37,279 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Entergy by 60.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,589,727 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $472,444,000 after acquiring an additional 1,354,355 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.07% of the company’s stock.

Entergy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ETR opened at $85.82 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $79.24 and a 200 day moving average of $71.30. The stock has a market cap of $36.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.72. Entergy Corporation has a 12 month low of $49.80 and a 12 month high of $88.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.66 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 business had revenue of $2.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.26 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Entergy Corporation will post 3.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Entergy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.80%. Entergy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 98.56%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Entergy news, insider Deanna D. Rodriguez sold 6,088 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 3,952 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $292,210.88. The trade was a 60.64 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on ETR. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of Entergy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $86.50 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Entergy from $69.00 to $82.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America lowered shares of Entergy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $69.00 to $77.00 in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Entergy from $85.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their price target on shares of Entergy from $72.50 to $82.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Six equities 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.14.

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.