Bank OZK Boosts Stake in Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR)

Bank OZK raised its holdings in shares of Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) by 100.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,930 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,965 shares during the quarter. Bank OZK’s holdings in Entergy were worth $601,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp grew its position in Entergy by 1.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,408,776 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,501,509,000 after buying an additional 128,667 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in Entergy by 5.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,613,647 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $870,422,000 after buying an additional 315,750 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Entergy by 53.0% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,718,859 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $754,318,000 after purchasing an additional 1,981,611 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Entergy by 0.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,965,257 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $651,206,000 after purchasing an additional 37,279 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Entergy by 60.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,589,727 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $472,444,000 after purchasing an additional 1,354,355 shares during the last quarter. 88.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Deanna D. Rodriguez sold 6,088 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.94, for a total value of $450,146.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 3,952 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $292,210.88. This represents a 60.64 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Scotiabank dropped their price target on Entergy from $165.00 to $82.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Guggenheim lifted their price target on Entergy from $72.50 to $82.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Entergy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $86.50 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Entergy from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Entergy from $79.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Six 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.14.

Entergy Trading Up 2.4 %

NYSE ETR opened at $87.29 on Friday. Entergy Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $49.80 and a fifty-two week high of $88.38. 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 has a 50 day simple moving average of $80.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $72.43. The stock has a market cap of $37.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.72.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.03. Entergy had a return on equity of 10.68% and a net margin of 8.90%. The business had revenue of $2.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.24 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.26 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Entergy Corporation will post 3.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Entergy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. Entergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.