Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR) Shares Sold by Argent Trust Co

Argent Trust Co trimmed its stake in shares of Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR) by 6.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,486 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 498 shares during the quarter. Argent Trust Co’s holdings in Entergy were worth $801,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ETR. Capital International Investors grew its position in shares of Entergy by 64.2% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,170,045 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $440,690,000 after acquiring an additional 1,630,057 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in shares of Entergy by 22.5% in the first 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 during the period. Boston Partners raised its holdings in shares of Entergy by 4.2% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,259,877 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $238,828,000 after buying an additional 91,655 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of Entergy by 37.5% during the fourth quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,643,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $166,286,000 after buying an additional 448,134 shares during the period. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC grew 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 worth $149,147,000 after buying an additional 16,002 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Entergy from $100.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Entergy from $123.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Barclays raised shares of Entergy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $115.00 to $138.00 in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Entergy from $131.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $109.50 target price (down previously from $117.00) on shares of Entergy in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $125.35.

Insider Activity at Entergy

In related news, CEO Andrew S. Marsh sold 3,200 shares of Entergy stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.46, for a total value of $388,672.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 150,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,307,787.26. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Andrew S. Marsh sold 3,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.46, for a total value of $388,672.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 150,731 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,307,787.26. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Andrew S. Marsh sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.03, for a total transaction of $72,018.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 150,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,092,241.93. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 42,888 shares of company stock valued at $5,110,766. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Entergy Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE:ETR opened at $127.68 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $118.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $110.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The stock has a market cap of $27.26 billion, a PE ratio of 12.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.73. Entergy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $87.10 and a fifty-two week high of $129.66.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.98 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.84 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast 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 was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 13th were issued a $1.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 13th. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.54%. Entergy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.34%.

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.