Claro Advisors LLC Invests $303,000 in Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR)

Claro Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 2,299 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $303,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Entergy by 55.4% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 14,877 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,571,000 after buying an additional 5,303 shares during the period. Cetera Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Entergy by 145.2% during the 1st 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 during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Entergy by 17.5% during the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 41,605 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,397,000 after purchasing an additional 6,197 shares during the period. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Entergy by 11.4% in the 3rd quarter. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd now owns 97,218 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,795,000 after purchasing an additional 9,986 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its position in shares of Entergy by 19.3% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 28,498 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,049,000 after buying an additional 4,616 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Entergy

In related news, CEO Andrew S. Marsh sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.03, for a total transaction of $72,018.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 150,731 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,092,241.93. This represents a 0.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Eliecer Viamontes sold 200 shares of Entergy stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.00, for a total transaction of $29,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 4,173 shares in the company, valued at $613,431. The trade was a 4.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 40,472 shares of company stock valued at $5,076,328 in the last ninety days. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Entergy Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of ETR stock opened at $149.20 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $31.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.71. Entergy Co. has a 12-month low of $96.15 and a 12-month high of $156.85. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $135.56 and a 200-day moving average of $120.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77.

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

Entergy Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on ETR shares. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Entergy from $119.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Argus upgraded Entergy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Entergy from $143.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Entergy from $131.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on Entergy from $138.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $150.42.

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.