Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) Shares Acquired by Securian Asset Management Inc.

Securian Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) by 95.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 23,046 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,279 shares during the quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Entergy were worth $1,747,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its position in shares of Entergy by 21.4% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in Entergy by 40.7% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 18,597 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,448,000 after buying an additional 5,381 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in Entergy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $4,393,000. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Entergy by 74.3% in the fourth quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 7,959 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $603,000 after buying an additional 3,393 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Entergy in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,541,000. 88.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on ETR. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Entergy from $79.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Scotiabank dropped their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Entergy from $87.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Evercore ISI boosted 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. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Entergy from $72.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Entergy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.11.

Entergy Stock Up 0.3 %

ETR opened at $82.85 on Friday. 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 company has a market cap of $35.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.03, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.68. Entergy Corporation has a one year low of $50.19 and a one year high of $88.38. The business’s fifty day moving average is $81.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $73.94.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.03. The firm 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 period in the prior year, the company earned $0.26 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Entergy Corporation will post 3.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Entergy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were given 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 2.90%. Entergy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 98.77%.

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.