Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR) Shares Sold by Inspire Investing LLC

Inspire Investing LLC trimmed its holdings in Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR) by 15.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,700 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 4,073 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC’s holdings in Entergy were worth $2,429,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital International Investors grew its stake in Entergy by 64.2% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,170,045 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $440,690,000 after acquiring an additional 1,630,057 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in Entergy by 22.5% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,753,248 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $290,963,000 after purchasing an additional 505,705 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in Entergy by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,259,877 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $238,828,000 after purchasing an additional 91,655 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Entergy by 37.5% in the 4th quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,643,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $166,286,000 after purchasing an additional 448,134 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its holdings in Entergy by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,411,309 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $149,147,000 after purchasing an additional 16,002 shares in the last quarter. 88.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ETR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Entergy from $115.00 to $119.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Entergy from $125.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Entergy from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Argus upgraded shares of Entergy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Entergy from $124.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $125.35.

Entergy Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE ETR opened at $128.61 on Thursday. Entergy Co. has a one year low of $87.10 and a one year high of $129.66. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $117.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $110.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.90, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.73.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.16. Entergy had a net margin of 14.75% and a return on equity of 10.10%. The firm had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.98 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.84 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Entergy Co. will post 7.22 EPS for the current year.

Entergy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 13th were given a $1.13 dividend. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 13th. Entergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.34%.

Insider Transactions at Entergy

In other news, COO Peter S. Norgeot, Jr. sold 11,472 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.16, for a total transaction of $1,321,115.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 37,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,363,182.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, COO Peter S. Norgeot, Jr. sold 11,472 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.16, for a total transaction of $1,321,115.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 37,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,363,182.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Andrew S. Marsh sold 19,200 shares of Entergy stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.35, for a total transaction of $2,310,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 150,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,140,475.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 42,888 shares of company stock valued at $5,110,766. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.