Vanguard Group Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR)

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) by 101.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 52,133,646 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 26,312,267 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 0.12% of Entergy worth $3,952,773,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Acropolis Investment Management LLC lifted 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 worth $1,163,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Entergy by 0.9% during the third quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 8,087 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,065,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its stake in Entergy by 1.3% in the third 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 period. Hall Laurie J Trustee boosted its holdings in Entergy by 50.0% in the fourth quarter. Hall Laurie J Trustee now owns 450 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Entergy by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 29,336 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,224,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. 88.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. KeyCorp cut shares of Entergy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Entergy from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Entergy from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. StockNews.com upgraded Entergy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, December 29th. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their price target 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. Six equities 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.75.

Entergy Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE ETR opened at $84.04 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $83.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $75.32. Entergy Corporation has a 52-week low of $50.19 and a 52-week high of $88.38. 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 $36.20 billion, a PE ratio of 34.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.68.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.24 billion. Entergy had a return on equity of 10.68% and a net margin of 8.90%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.26 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Entergy Corporation will post 3.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Entergy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.86%. Entergy’s dividend 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.