Blue Trust Inc. Acquires 1,484 Shares of Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR)

Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR) by 700.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,696 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,484 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Entergy were worth $223,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of ETR. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in Entergy by 47.1% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,479,044 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $693,260,000 after buying an additional 2,075,776 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased 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 valued at $440,690,000 after purchasing an additional 1,630,057 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Entergy by 185.5% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,876,672 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $200,804,000 after purchasing an additional 1,219,419 shares in the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC boosted its stake in Entergy by 12.4% during the second quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 6,926,492 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $741,135,000 after buying an additional 763,834 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Entergy by 89.2% in the 2nd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,073,603 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $114,876,000 after buying an additional 506,239 shares during the period. 88.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on ETR. Argus raised shares of Entergy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Entergy from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Entergy from $131.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Entergy from $125.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Entergy from $137.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.19.

Entergy Trading Down 1.5 %

ETR opened at $135.38 on Friday. Entergy Co. has a 1-year low of $90.78 and a 1-year high of $138.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.95 billion, a PE ratio of 16.19, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $127.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $115.63.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.98 billion. Entergy had a return on equity of 10.10% and a net margin of 14.75%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.84 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Entergy Co. will post 7.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Entergy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be issued a $1.20 dividend. This is a boost from Entergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.13. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.55%. Entergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.07%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Entergy news, CEO Andrew S. Marsh sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.03, for a total transaction of $72,018.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 150,731 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,092,241.93. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Entergy news, COO Peter S. Norgeot, Jr. sold 7,922 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total value of $1,029,860.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 34,993 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,549,090. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.03, for a total value of $72,018.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 150,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,092,241.93. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 50,810 shares of company stock worth $6,140,626 over the last three months. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.