Vanguard Group Inc. Purchases 26,312,267 Shares of Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR)

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) by 101.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 52,133,646 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 26,312,267 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 12.16% of Entergy worth $3,952,773,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ETR. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Entergy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. NBT Bank N A NY raised its position in shares of Entergy by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. NBT Bank N A NY now owns 340 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the period. Fortis Group Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Entergy by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC now owns 344 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Duncker Streett & Co. Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Entergy by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. Duncker Streett & Co. Inc. now owns 358 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sandy Spring Bank boosted its holdings in Entergy by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 358 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 179 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Entergy from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Entergy from $86.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Entergy from $87.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Entergy from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Entergy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, December 29th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Entergy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.75.

Entergy Price Performance

ETR opened at $84.04 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.51, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. Entergy Corporation has a 12-month low of $50.19 and a 12-month high of $88.38. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $83.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $75.32.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.03. Entergy had a net margin of 8.90% and a return on equity of 10.68%. The business had revenue of $2.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.24 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.26 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Entergy Corporation will post 3.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Entergy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were given 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 2.86%. Entergy’s payout ratio is 98.77%.

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.