Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund Has $2.79 Million Position in Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR)

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in shares of Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) by 100.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 36,782 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,415 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in Entergy were worth $2,789,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays boosted their target price on Entergy from $68.50 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. 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 report on Thursday, January 30th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Entergy from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Entergy from $79.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Entergy from $85.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Entergy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $82.14.

Entergy Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of ETR stock opened at $85.26 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $80.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $72.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.59. Entergy Corporation has a 1 year low of $49.80 and a 1 year high of $88.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.02, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.72.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 firm posted $0.26 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Entergy Corporation will post 3.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Entergy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.81%. Entergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 98.77%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Deanna D. Rodriguez sold 6,088 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,952 shares in the company, valued at $292,210.88. The trade was a 60.64 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.39% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.