Retirement Systems of Alabama Grows Stock Holdings in Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR)

Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its stake in shares of Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) by 99.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 605,156 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 302,202 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Entergy were worth $45,883,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ETR. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Entergy by 53.0% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,718,859 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $754,318,000 after purchasing an additional 1,981,611 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of Entergy by 139.5% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,423,556 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $183,754,000 after buying an additional 1,411,473 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Entergy by 60.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,589,727 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $472,444,000 after buying an additional 1,354,355 shares during the period. Confluence Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Entergy by 96.0% during the fourth quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 1,607,273 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $121,863,000 after buying an additional 787,367 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Entergy by 1,490.4% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 687,874 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $52,155,000 after buying an additional 644,622 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. 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 note on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Entergy from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $58.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Entergy from $68.50 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Guggenheim increased their price target on shares of Entergy from $72.50 to $82.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Entergy from $68.50 to $85.00 and gave the stock 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $79.81.

Entergy Stock Down 0.5 %

ETR stock opened at $81.66 on Wednesday. Entergy Corporation has a 52 week low of $48.08 and a 52 week high of $84.26. The company has a market capitalization of $35.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.72. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $77.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $69.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77.

Entergy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.94%. Entergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.47%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Deanna D. Rodriguez sold 6,088 shares of Entergy stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.94, for a total value of $450,146.72. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 3,952 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $292,210.88. The trade was a 60.64 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Haley Fisackerly sold 8,268 shares of Entergy stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.52, for a total transaction of $616,090.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 4,032 shares in the company, valued at $300,444.48. This represents a 67.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.54% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.