Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) Shares Sold by Los Angeles Capital Management LLC

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) by 74.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,876 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 17,565 shares during the quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Entergy were worth $446,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in Entergy by 21.4% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 986,546 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $129,840,000 after acquiring an additional 174,093 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of Entergy by 40.7% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 18,597 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,448,000 after purchasing an additional 5,381 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Entergy by 4.0% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 280,262 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,885,000 after purchasing an additional 10,697 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Entergy during the fourth quarter worth about $4,393,000. Finally, Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC boosted its position in Entergy by 74.3% in the fourth quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 7,959 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $603,000 after buying an additional 3,393 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Deanna D. Rodriguez sold 6,088 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.94, for a total value of $450,146.72. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 3,952 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $292,210.88. This represents a 60.64 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.39% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ETR has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Entergy from $72.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded Entergy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, December 29th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Entergy from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Barclays lifted their price target on Entergy from $68.50 to $76.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, KeyCorp downgraded Entergy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.14.

Entergy Trading Up 0.7 %

ETR opened at $87.96 on Tuesday. 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 company’s 50 day simple moving average is $80.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $72.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.72. Entergy Corporation has a 1-year low of $49.92 and a 1-year high of $88.38.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $2.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 previous year, the company posted $0.26 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Entergy Corporation will post 3.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Entergy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Entergy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 98.77%.

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.