First Heartland Consultants Inc. Makes New Investment in Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR)

First Heartland Consultants Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 2,881 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $379,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ETR. Quent Capital LLC increased its stake in Entergy by 21.7% during the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 550 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in Entergy by 23.2% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 11,594 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,225,000 after acquiring an additional 2,181 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in shares of Entergy by 15.6% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 179,077 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $18,925,000 after purchasing an additional 24,105 shares during the last quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Entergy in the 1st quarter valued at $358,000. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Entergy by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 40,178 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,246,000 after purchasing an additional 2,273 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.07% of the company’s stock.

Entergy Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of ETR opened at $149.22 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $31.99 billion, a PE ratio of 18.18, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.71. Entergy Co. has a 12 month low of $94.85 and a 12 month high of $156.85. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $132.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $119.02. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $2.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $3.39 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.46 billion. Entergy had a return on equity of 9.53% and a net margin of 14.83%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.27 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate 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 paid a $1.20 dividend. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.22%. This is an increase from Entergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.13. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 13th. Entergy’s payout ratio is currently 55.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ETR. Argus upgraded Entergy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on Entergy from $143.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Entergy from $131.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Entergy from $137.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Entergy from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $116.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Five investment 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, Entergy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $150.96.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Andrew S. Marsh sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.03, for a total transaction of $72,018.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 150,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,092,241.93. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Andrew S. Marsh sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.03, for a total transaction of $72,018.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 150,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,092,241.93. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Peter S. Norgeot, Jr. sold 3,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.56, for a total value of $398,320.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 34,993 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,288,742.08. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 36,338 shares of company stock valued at $4,460,238 in the last ninety days. 0.54% 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.