DnB Asset Management AS Has $8.34 Million Stock Position in Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR)

DnB Asset Management AS grew its position in Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) by 118.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 109,936 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 59,640 shares during the quarter. DnB Asset Management AS’s holdings in Entergy were worth $8,335,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its position in Entergy by 7.9% during the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 2,459 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $324,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in shares of Entergy by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 52,880 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,960,000 after purchasing an additional 2,620 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its holdings in Entergy by 3.0% in the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 37,272 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,905,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in Entergy by 8.5% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,075,044 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $141,487,000 after buying an additional 84,374 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vinva Investment Management Ltd raised its holdings in Entergy by 9.0% during the third quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 4,551 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $597,000 after buying an additional 375 shares in the last quarter. 88.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Entergy Stock Performance

ETR opened at $84.38 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $36.35 billion, a PE ratio of 34.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.68. Entergy Corporation has a 1 year low of $50.19 and a 1 year high of $88.38. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $83.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $75.86. 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 announced its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $2.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 previous year, the firm posted $0.26 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Entergy Corporation will post 3.88 EPS for the current year.

Entergy Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on ETR shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Entergy from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of Entergy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $86.50 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com raised shares of Entergy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, December 29th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Entergy from $86.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, KeyCorp downgraded Entergy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Entergy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.75.

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.