National Pension Service Grows Position in Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR)

National Pension Service raised its position in shares of Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) by 82.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 662,518 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 299,215 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned about 0.15% of Entergy worth $50,232,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Entergy by 53.0% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,718,859 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $754,318,000 after purchasing an additional 1,981,611 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Entergy by 139.5% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,423,556 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $183,754,000 after purchasing an additional 1,411,473 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Entergy by 60.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,589,727 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $472,444,000 after purchasing an additional 1,354,355 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Entergy by 87.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,848,293 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $215,958,000 after purchasing an additional 1,328,694 shares during the period. Finally, Truist Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Entergy by 105.0% in the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 2,072,950 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $157,171,000 after purchasing an additional 1,061,527 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.07% of the company’s stock.

Entergy Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:ETR opened at $85.26 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $80.35 and its 200 day moving average is $72.24. Entergy Corporation has a 1 year low of $49.80 and a 1 year high of $88.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.59.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.66 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $2.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.24 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.26 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Entergy Corporation will post 3.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Entergy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.81%. Entergy’s payout ratio is presently 98.77%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Entergy from $85.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Entergy from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $58.00 to $75.00 in a report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Entergy from $68.50 to $76.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com upgraded Entergy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, December 29th. Finally, KeyCorp cut Entergy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Entergy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.14.

Insider Buying and Selling at Entergy

In other Entergy news, insider Deanna D. Rodriguez sold 6,088 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.94, for a total transaction of $450,146.72. Following the sale, the insider now owns 3,952 shares in the company, valued at approximately $292,210.88. The trade was a 60.64 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

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.