Bank & Trust Co Purchases Shares of 705 Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR)

Bank & Trust Co purchased a new position in Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 705 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $75,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ETR. Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of Entergy by 64.2% during 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. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Entergy by 25.2% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,961,859 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $400,901,000 after buying an additional 796,316 shares in the last quarter. ClearBridge Investments Ltd grew its stake in shares of Entergy by 29.3% in the 4th quarter. ClearBridge Investments Ltd now owns 3,115,468 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $315,254,000 after buying an additional 706,059 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Entergy by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,904,933 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $293,950,000 after buying an additional 258,806 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in shares of Entergy by 22.5% during 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 buying an additional 505,705 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.07% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Haley Fisackerly sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.23, for a total transaction of $165,345.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,479 shares in the company, valued at $273,260.17. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.39% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on ETR. Barclays reduced their price objective on Entergy from $116.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Scotiabank increased their price target on Entergy from $104.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday. Mizuho raised their price target on Entergy from $107.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Entergy from $112.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Entergy from $124.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $118.19.

Entergy Trading Up 0.6 %

ETR stock traded up $0.65 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $116.16. The company had a trading volume of 1,938,420 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,523,584. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $109.21 and a 200 day moving average of $105.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.45. Entergy Co. has a 12 month low of $87.10 and a 12 month high of $123.61. The company has a market capitalization of $24.80 billion, a PE ratio of 11.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.71.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last announced 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. Entergy had a return on equity of 10.10% and a net margin of 14.75%. The company had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.98 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.84 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Entergy Co. will post 7.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Entergy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 13th will be paid a $1.13 dividend. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 13th. Entergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.34%.

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.