Cognios Beta Neutral Large Cap Fund LP Invests $399,000 in Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR)

Cognios Beta Neutral Large Cap Fund LP bought a new stake in Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 3,944 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $399,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its holdings in Entergy by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 38,239 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,537,000 after acquiring an additional 467 shares during the last quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Entergy by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. now owns 595,644 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $60,273,000 after buying an additional 9,696 shares in the last quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. lifted its stake in Entergy by 28.9% during the fourth quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 159,395 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $16,129,000 after buying an additional 35,718 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Entergy by 464.4% during the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 12,044 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,114,000 after buying an additional 9,910 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Entergy by 10,063.5% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 236,810 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $239,630,000 after buying an additional 234,480 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Deanna D. Rodriguez sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.23, for a total transaction of $151,845.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,442 shares in the company, valued at approximately $348,433.66. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, EVP Marcus V. Brown sold 8,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.84, for a total transaction of $874,140.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,911 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,019,247.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Deanna D. Rodriguez sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.23, for a total value of $151,845.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 3,442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $348,433.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,000 shares of company stock worth $1,226,685 over the last three months. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Entergy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ETR traded down $0.72 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $106.46. 2,446,413 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,411,738. The firm has a market cap of $22.70 billion, a PE ratio of 9.60, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.71. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $102.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $100.48. Entergy Co. has a 12 month low of $87.10 and a 12 month high of $109.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.57.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The utilities provider reported $1.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.27). Entergy had a net margin of 19.41% and a return on equity of 10.54%. The business had revenue of $31.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.14 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Entergy Co. will post 7.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Entergy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 2nd will be given a $1.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 1st. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.25%. Entergy’s payout ratio is 40.76%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Entergy from $110.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Entergy from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Entergy from $108.00 to $107.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 15th. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on Entergy from $111.00 to $104.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $117.00 price objective on shares of Entergy in a report on Monday, February 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $109.45.

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.