Raymond James Financial Inc. Buys New Shares in Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR)

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 1,333,851 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $101,133,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.31% of Entergy as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Entergy by 2.1% during the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,427 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $451,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Entergy by 0.8% during the third quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC now owns 8,836 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,163,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. lifted its position in Entergy by 0.9% during the third quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 8,087 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,065,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its position in Entergy by 1.3% during the third quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 7,233 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $952,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aptus Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Entergy by 3.2% during the third quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,727 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $491,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. 88.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Entergy Price Performance

NYSE:ETR opened at $81.23 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The company has a market capitalization of $34.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.68. Entergy Corporation has a 12 month low of $50.19 and a 12 month high of $88.38. The business’s 50-day moving average is $81.40 and its 200 day moving average is $73.40.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last issued 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 company had revenue of $2.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.24 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.26 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Entergy Corporation will post 3.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Entergy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.95%. Entergy’s payout ratio is currently 98.77%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Entergy news, insider Deanna D. Rodriguez sold 6,088 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.94, for a total transaction of $450,146.72. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,952 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $292,210.88. The trade was a 60.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on ETR shares. StockNews.com upgraded Entergy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, December 29th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Entergy from $79.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Entergy from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on Entergy from $165.00 to $82.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, KeyCorp downgraded Entergy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.14.

Entergy 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.