Wedbush Securities Inc. Purchases 3,359 Shares of Entergy Corporation $ETR

Wedbush Securities Inc. lifted its stake in Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) by 132.8% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 5,889 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,359 shares during the period. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in Entergy were worth $489,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ETR. Choreo LLC increased its holdings in shares of Entergy by 12.3% during the first quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 9,546 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $816,000 after acquiring an additional 1,042 shares in the last quarter. First American Trust FSB acquired a new stake in Entergy during the 1st quarter worth about $3,896,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Entergy by 26.0% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 96,142 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,219,000 after buying an additional 19,862 shares during the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI purchased a new position in shares of Entergy during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $32,658,000. Finally, G&S Capital LLC purchased a new position in Entergy in the second quarter valued at $2,557,000. 88.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ETR. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Entergy from $98.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Entergy from $88.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley set a $93.00 price target on Entergy and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Barclays set a $100.00 target price on shares of Entergy and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Entergy in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $102.37.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Anastasia Minor sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.39, for a total value of $481,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 10,122 shares in the company, valued at approximately $975,659.58. This represents a 33.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Haley Fisackerly sold 5,136 shares of Entergy stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.50, for a total value of $495,624.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 7,899 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $762,253.50. This trade represents a 39.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 10,179 shares of company stock worth $981,707. Company insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Entergy Price Performance

Entergy stock opened at $96.89 on Wednesday. Entergy Corporation has a one year low of $73.15 and a one year high of $98.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.71. The company has a market cap of $43.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.63. The business has a fifty day moving average of $93.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $87.88.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of $2.37 billion during the quarter. Entergy had a return on equity of 11.53% and a net margin of 14.26%. As a group, analysts predict that Entergy Corporation will post 3.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Entergy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 13th will be given a dividend of $0.64 per share. This is a positive change from Entergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 13th. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. Entergy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.21%.

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.