Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) Shares Acquired by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) by 96.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 549,226 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 268,964 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Entergy were worth $41,642,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Entergy by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,427 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $451,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. Acropolis Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Entergy by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC now owns 8,836 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,163,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Entergy by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 8,087 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,065,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. Prossimo Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Entergy by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Prossimo Advisors LLC now owns 5,971 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $786,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Entergy by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 7,233 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $952,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the period. 88.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on ETR shares. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Entergy from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $58.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Entergy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $69.00 to $77.00 in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Entergy from $68.50 to $76.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Entergy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Entergy from $85.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Six investment 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Entergy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.14.

Entergy Stock Down 1.1 %

ETR stock opened at $84.94 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $79.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $71.30. The company has a market capitalization of $36.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. Entergy Corporation has a 52 week low of $49.80 and a 52 week high of $88.38.

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

Entergy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.83%. Entergy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 98.56%.

Insider Transactions at Entergy

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 directly owns 3,952 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $292,210.88. This trade represents a 60.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

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.