Independent Advisor Alliance Buys 17,962 Shares of Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR)

Independent Advisor Alliance boosted its position in Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) by 125.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 32,233 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 17,962 shares during the quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance’s holdings in Entergy were worth $2,444,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Meriwether Wealth & Planning LLC bought a new position in shares of Entergy during the 4th quarter valued at about $335,000. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new stake in Entergy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $241,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in Entergy by 114.9% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 56,274 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,267,000 after buying an additional 30,089 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in Entergy by 122.0% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 117,407 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,902,000 after acquiring an additional 64,527 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NBT Bank N A NY raised its stake in shares of Entergy by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. NBT Bank N A NY now owns 340 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ETR. KeyCorp cut shares of Entergy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Entergy from $72.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on Entergy from $165.00 to $82.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Entergy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $86.50 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Entergy from $87.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.11.

Entergy Price Performance

ETR opened at $82.85 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.72. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $81.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $73.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.66 billion, a PE ratio of 34.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.68. Entergy Corporation has a 52-week low of $50.19 and a 52-week high of $88.38.

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

Entergy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.90%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Entergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 98.77%.

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.