Sage Mountain Advisors LLC Buys 3,334 Shares of Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR)

Sage Mountain Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) by 131.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,875 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,334 shares during the period. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC’s holdings in Entergy were worth $445,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in shares of Entergy by 21.4% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 986,546 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $129,840,000 after purchasing an additional 174,093 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of Entergy by 40.7% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 18,597 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,448,000 after purchasing an additional 5,381 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Entergy by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 280,262 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,885,000 after purchasing an additional 10,697 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in Entergy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,393,000. Finally, Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Entergy by 74.3% in the fourth quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 7,959 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $603,000 after purchasing an additional 3,393 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Entergy

In other Entergy news, insider Deanna D. Rodriguez sold 6,088 shares of Entergy stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The stock was 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. The trade was a 60.64 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ETR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. 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. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Entergy from $79.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of Entergy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $86.50 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com raised shares of Entergy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, December 29th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Entergy from $72.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.11.

Entergy Stock Up 2.3 %

ETR stock opened at $82.31 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $81.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $73.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The stock has a market cap of $35.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.68. Entergy Corporation has a 1-year low of $50.19 and a 1-year high of $88.38.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.24 billion. Entergy had a return on equity of 10.68% and a net margin of 8.90%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.26 EPS. Analysts expect that Entergy Corporation will post 3.88 EPS for the current year.

Entergy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.92%. Entergy’s payout ratio is currently 98.77%.

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.