Seven Eight Capital LP Makes New Investment in Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR)

Seven Eight Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 7,649 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $818,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ETR. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its position in Entergy by 7.4% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 466,830 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $49,927,000 after acquiring an additional 32,017 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL grew its holdings in Entergy by 22.8% during the second quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 5,136 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $550,000 after purchasing an additional 953 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its position in Entergy by 32.9% in the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 20,429 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,186,000 after buying an additional 5,057 shares during the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank raised its stake in shares of Entergy by 34.6% in the second quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 58,917 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,304,000 after buying an additional 15,150 shares during the period. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its position in shares of Entergy by 525.6% during the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 66,612 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,241,000 after buying an additional 55,965 shares during the last quarter. 88.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Entergy from $115.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Entergy from $143.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Argus raised shares of Entergy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Entergy from $107.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Guggenheim increased their target price on Entergy from $118.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $127.35.

Entergy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ETR opened at $129.25 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $118.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $110.87. Entergy Co. has a twelve month low of $87.10 and a twelve month high of $129.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.98 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.84 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Entergy Co. will post 7.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Entergy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 13th were issued a dividend of $1.13 per share. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 13th. Entergy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Entergy news, COO Peter S. Norgeot, Jr. sold 11,472 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.16, for a total transaction of $1,321,115.52. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 37,888 shares in the company, valued at $4,363,182.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Entergy 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 transaction of $1,321,115.52. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 37,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,363,182.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Andrew S. Marsh sold 3,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.46, for a total transaction of $388,672.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 150,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,307,787.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 42,888 shares of company stock worth $5,110,766. Corporate insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Entergy 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.