Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC Buys 22,800 Shares of Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR)

Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC increased its position in Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) by 100.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 45,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 22,800 shares during the period. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC’s holdings in Entergy were worth $3,457,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in Entergy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,393,000. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC grew its position in Entergy by 74.3% in the 4th 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 period. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC bought a new stake in Entergy during the 4th quarter valued at $217,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Entergy by 324.3% during the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 734 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 561 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Braun Stacey Associates Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Entergy by 88.8% in the fourth quarter. Braun Stacey Associates Inc. now owns 360,502 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,333,000 after buying an additional 169,511 shares in the last quarter. 88.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on ETR. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Entergy from $79.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. KeyCorp downgraded Entergy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Entergy from $87.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Scotiabank decreased 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Entergy from $85.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Six 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 MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.75.

Entergy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ETR opened at $83.96 on Friday. Entergy Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $50.19 and a fifty-two week high of $88.38. The company’s 50-day moving average is $83.30 and its 200 day moving average is $75.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.72. The company has a market capitalization of $36.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.68.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.03. Entergy had a net margin of 8.90% and a return on equity of 10.68%. The firm had revenue of $2.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.24 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.26 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Entergy Corporation will post 3.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Entergy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Entergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.