Cibc World Markets Corp Increases Stock Position in Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR)

Cibc World Markets Corp increased its stake in shares of Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) by 133.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 67,599 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 38,596 shares during the quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp’s holdings in Entergy were worth $5,125,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ETR. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Entergy by 53.0% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,718,859 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $754,318,000 after buying an additional 1,981,611 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in Entergy by 139.5% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,423,556 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $183,754,000 after buying an additional 1,411,473 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Entergy by 105.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,748,828 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $208,416,000 after buying an additional 1,408,476 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Entergy by 60.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,589,727 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $472,444,000 after buying an additional 1,354,355 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Entergy during the fourth quarter worth about $101,133,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ETR. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Entergy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, December 29th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Entergy from $72.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Entergy from $79.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Entergy from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of Entergy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $86.50 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Entergy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.11.

Entergy Price Performance

ETR stock opened at $84.75 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $82.59 and a 200-day moving average of $74.73. 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 Corporation has a 12 month low of $50.19 and a 12 month high of $88.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.68.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $3.24 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business 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 business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders 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 yield of 2.83%. Entergy’s payout ratio is presently 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.