Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR) Stake Lifted by Natixis Advisors LLC

Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR) by 14.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 229,939 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 29,558 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC owned about 0.11% of Entergy worth $30,262,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Entergy by 55.4% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 14,877 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,571,000 after buying an additional 5,303 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Entergy by 145.2% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 24,136 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,551,000 after purchasing an additional 14,293 shares in the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Entergy by 17.5% in the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 41,605 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,397,000 after purchasing an additional 6,197 shares in the last quarter. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd grew its stake in shares of Entergy by 11.4% in the third quarter. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd now owns 97,218 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $12,795,000 after purchasing an additional 9,986 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its stake in shares of Entergy by 19.3% in the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 28,498 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,049,000 after purchasing an additional 4,616 shares in the last quarter. 88.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Entergy Stock Performance

Entergy stock opened at $149.12 on Monday. Entergy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $96.15 and a fifty-two week high of $156.85. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $135.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $120.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The company has a market cap of $31.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.71.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $2.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $3.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.46 billion. Entergy had a net margin of 14.83% and a return on equity of 9.53%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.27 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Entergy Co. will post 7.21 EPS for the current year.

Entergy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be given a dividend of $1.20 per share. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.22%. This is a positive change from Entergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.13. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 13th. Entergy’s payout ratio is presently 58.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Eliecer Viamontes sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.00, for a total value of $29,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 4,173 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $613,431. This represents a 4.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Andrew S. Marsh sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.03, for a total transaction of $72,018.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 150,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,092,241.93. This represents a 0.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 40,472 shares of company stock valued at $5,076,328. Corporate insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America cut Entergy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $138.00 to $154.00 in a research note on Monday, November 4th. StockNews.com raised Entergy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 9th. UBS Group increased their price target on Entergy from $143.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Barclays raised their target price on Entergy from $137.00 to $152.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their target price on Entergy from $143.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $150.96.

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.