Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Raises Holdings in Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) by 29.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,731 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,703 shares during the quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Entergy were worth $889,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Entergy by 126.6% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,352 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $310,000 after buying an additional 1,314 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its holdings in Entergy by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 110,831 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $14,586,000 after buying an additional 4,384 shares during the period. Forum Financial Management LP purchased a new stake in Entergy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $212,000. National Pension Service lifted its holdings in Entergy by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 363,303 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $47,814,000 after buying an additional 18,256 shares during the period. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Entergy by 7.1% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 84,528 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,125,000 after buying an additional 5,575 shares during the period. 88.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on ETR. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Entergy from $79.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Entergy from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Scotiabank lowered their target price on Entergy from $165.00 to $82.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group raised their target price on Entergy from $72.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Entergy from $85.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.14.

Entergy Stock Down 0.5 %

ETR stock opened at $84.69 on Thursday. Entergy Corporation has a 1-year low of $50.19 and a 1-year high of $88.38. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $81.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $73.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.68.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 analysts’ expectations of $3.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.26 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Entergy Corporation will post 3.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Entergy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Entergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 98.77%.

Insider Activity at Entergy

In related news, insider Deanna D. Rodriguez sold 6,088 shares of the company’s 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.39% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.