Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC Buys Shares of 16,600 Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR)

Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC bought a new stake in shares of Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 16,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,259,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ETR. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Entergy by 53.0% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,718,859 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $754,318,000 after buying an additional 1,981,611 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in shares of Entergy by 139.5% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,423,556 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $183,754,000 after buying an additional 1,411,473 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Entergy by 60.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,589,727 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $472,444,000 after buying an additional 1,354,355 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Entergy by 105.0% during the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 2,072,950 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $157,171,000 after buying an additional 1,061,527 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Confluence Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Entergy by 96.0% during the 4th quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 1,607,273 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $121,863,000 after buying an additional 787,367 shares in the last quarter. 88.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Entergy

In related news, insider Deanna D. Rodriguez sold 6,088 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.94, for a total transaction of $450,146.72. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,952 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $292,210.88. The trade was a 60.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on ETR. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Entergy from $79.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Guggenheim boosted their price target on shares of Entergy from $72.50 to $82.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Entergy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, December 29th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Entergy from $68.50 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded shares of Entergy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $69.00 to $77.00 in a report on Monday, November 4th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $82.14.

Entergy Stock Down 1.7 %

ETR stock opened at $85.82 on Friday. Entergy Corporation has a 52-week low of $49.80 and a 52-week high of $88.38. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $79.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $71.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.72.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.03. Entergy had a net margin of 8.90% and a return on equity of 10.68%. The business had revenue of $2.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.26 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Entergy Corporation will post 3.88 EPS for the current year.

Entergy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. Entergy’s payout ratio is presently 98.56%.

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.