Raymond James Financial Inc. Takes Position in Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR)

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 1,333,851 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $101,133,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ETR. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Entergy by 53.0% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,718,859 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $754,318,000 after buying an additional 1,981,611 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew 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 last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Entergy by 105.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,748,828 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $208,416,000 after buying an additional 1,408,476 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew 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 last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Entergy by 87.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,848,293 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $215,958,000 after purchasing an additional 1,328,694 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.07% of the company’s stock.

Entergy Stock Up 0.1 %

Entergy stock opened at $81.23 on Friday. Entergy Corporation has a twelve month low of $50.19 and a twelve month high of $88.38. The business has a fifty day moving average of $81.40 and a two-hundred day moving average of $73.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The firm has a market cap of $34.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.68.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.03. Entergy had a return on equity of 10.68% and a net margin of 8.90%. The firm had revenue of $2.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.24 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.26 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Entergy Corporation will post 3.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Entergy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.95%. Entergy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 98.77%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Deanna D. Rodriguez sold 6,088 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.94, for a total transaction of $450,146.72. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 3,952 shares in the company, valued at approximately $292,210.88. This represents a 60.64 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ETR. Scotiabank lowered their price target on Entergy from $165.00 to $82.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. KeyCorp lowered Entergy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Entergy from $72.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Entergy from $79.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Entergy from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Entergy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.14.

Entergy Company 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.