Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC Takes $781,000 Position in Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR)

Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 5,937 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $781,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Entergy by 13.0% in the third quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 55,487 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,303,000 after purchasing an additional 6,377 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Entergy by 14.8% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 229,939 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,262,000 after purchasing an additional 29,558 shares in the last quarter. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Entergy during the 3rd quarter valued at about $237,000. Coastline Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Entergy during the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 5,381 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Entergy

In other news, insider Eliecer Viamontes sold 5,166 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $619,920.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 5,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $614,040. The trade was a 50.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Andrew S. Marsh sold 19,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.35, for a total transaction of $2,310,720.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 150,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,140,475.85. The trade was a 11.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 40,472 shares of company stock valued at $5,076,328 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ETR has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Entergy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 9th. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Entergy from $138.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Entergy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $138.00 to $154.00 in a research report on Monday, November 4th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on Entergy from $143.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Entergy from $143.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $150.96.

Entergy Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:ETR opened at $149.12 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $135.02 and a 200 day moving average of $120.10. The company has a market cap of $31.97 billion, a PE ratio of 18.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.71. Entergy Co. has a 12-month low of $96.15 and a 12-month high of $156.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $2.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $3.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.46 billion. Entergy had a net margin of 14.83% and a return on equity of 9.53%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.27 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Entergy Co. will post 7.21 EPS for the current year.

Entergy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be given a $1.20 dividend. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.22%. This is an increase from Entergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.13. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 13th. Entergy’s payout ratio is presently 58.47%.

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.