Intrust Bank NA Increases Position in Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR)

Intrust Bank NA increased its holdings in Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) by 106.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,203 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,402 shares during the period. Intrust Bank NA’s holdings in Entergy were worth $1,532,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Entergy by 101.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,133,646 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,952,773,000 after purchasing an additional 26,312,267 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Entergy by 105.1% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,363,219 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $558,279,000 after buying an additional 3,773,492 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Entergy during the fourth quarter worth about $259,944,000. 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. Finally, Boston Partners boosted its stake in Entergy by 87.3% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,215,746 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $243,867,000 after acquiring an additional 1,498,693 shares during the last quarter. 88.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Entergy Stock Performance

Entergy stock opened at $84.38 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $83.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $75.75. 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 1-year low of $50.19 and a 1-year high of $88.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.35 billion, a PE ratio of 34.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.68.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.26 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Entergy Corporation will post 3.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Entergy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.84%. Entergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 98.77%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ETR. KeyCorp lowered shares of Entergy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Entergy from $85.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Entergy from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Entergy from $79.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Entergy from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.75.

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.