Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR) Shares Sold by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp decreased its stake in Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR) by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 81,346 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 314 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Entergy were worth $11,140,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System grew its position in shares of Entergy by 6.3% in the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 234,595 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,275,000 after purchasing an additional 13,882 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Entergy by 55.4% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 14,877 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,571,000 after buying an additional 5,303 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Entergy in the first quarter worth about $1,245,000. Cetera Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Entergy by 145.2% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 24,136 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,551,000 after buying an additional 14,293 shares in the last quarter. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Entergy by 17.5% in the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 41,605 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,397,000 after buying an additional 6,197 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.07% of the company’s stock.

Entergy Price Performance

Entergy stock opened at $145.95 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $130.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $117.88. The company has a market capitalization of $31.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.71. Entergy Co. has a 1 year low of $94.85 and a 1 year high of $156.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.89.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $2.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $3.39 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.46 billion. Entergy had a net margin of 14.83% and a return on equity of 9.53%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.27 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Entergy Co. will post 7.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Entergy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be paid a $1.20 dividend. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.29%. This is an increase from Entergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.13. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 13th. Entergy’s payout ratio is 58.47%.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Peter S. Norgeot, Jr. sold 11,472 shares of Entergy stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.16, for a total value of $1,321,115.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 37,888 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,363,182.08. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, COO Peter S. Norgeot, Jr. sold 11,472 shares of Entergy stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.16, for a total value of $1,321,115.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 37,888 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,363,182.08. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Peter S. Norgeot, Jr. sold 3,250 shares of Entergy stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.56, for a total transaction of $398,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 34,993 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,288,742.08. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 47,610 shares of company stock valued at $5,751,954. Company insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on ETR shares. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Entergy from $143.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of Entergy from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Entergy from $131.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Entergy from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $116.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Monday. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Entergy from $119.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $150.96.

About Entergy

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.