GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. Takes Position in Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR)

GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. purchased a new position in Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 110,366 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $14,525,000. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. owned approximately 0.05% of Entergy at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System raised its position in Entergy by 6.3% during the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 234,595 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,275,000 after buying an additional 13,882 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Entergy by 55.4% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 14,877 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,571,000 after purchasing an additional 5,303 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Entergy during the first quarter worth approximately $1,245,000. Cetera Advisors LLC grew its position in Entergy by 145.2% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 24,136 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,551,000 after purchasing an additional 14,293 shares in the last quarter. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its position in Entergy by 17.5% during the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 41,605 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,397,000 after purchasing an additional 6,197 shares in the last quarter. 88.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on ETR shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Entergy from $109.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Entergy from $131.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Scotiabank upped their target price on Entergy from $115.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Entergy from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Entergy from $143.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.19.

Entergy Stock Performance

Shares of ETR traded down $1.70 on Tuesday, reaching $134.62. 351,405 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,551,596. The firm has a market cap of $28.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.74. Entergy Co. has a 12 month low of $92.31 and a 12 month high of $138.24. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $127.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $116.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.62.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by $0.16. Entergy had a net margin of 14.75% and a return on equity of 10.10%. The company had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.98 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.84 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Entergy Co. will post 7.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Entergy Increases Dividend

The business 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 is a positive change from Entergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.13. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 13th. Entergy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.07%.

Insider Transactions at Entergy

In other Entergy news, COO Peter S. Norgeot, Jr. sold 11,472 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.16, for a total value of $1,321,115.52. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 37,888 shares in the company, valued at $4,363,182.08. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, COO Peter S. Norgeot, Jr. sold 3,250 shares of the business’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 of the company’s stock, valued at $4,288,742.08. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Peter S. Norgeot, Jr. sold 11,472 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.16, for a total value of $1,321,115.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 37,888 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,363,182.08. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 50,810 shares of company stock valued at $6,140,626. Corporate insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

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.