Allianz SE Makes New Investment in Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR)

Allianz SE purchased a new stake in Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 2,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $152,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ETR. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in Entergy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,393,000. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Entergy by 74.3% in the 4th quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 7,959 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $603,000 after acquiring an additional 3,393 shares during the period. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC acquired a new position in shares of Entergy during the 4th quarter valued at $217,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Entergy by 324.3% during the 4th quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 734 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 561 shares during the period. Finally, Braun Stacey Associates Inc. increased its holdings in Entergy by 88.8% in the 4th quarter. Braun Stacey Associates Inc. now owns 360,502 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,333,000 after purchasing an additional 169,511 shares in the last quarter. 88.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on ETR shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Entergy from $85.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded Entergy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $86.50 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of Entergy from $165.00 to $82.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Entergy from $86.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Entergy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, December 29th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.75.

Entergy Stock Performance

Shares of Entergy stock opened at $85.63 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $36.89 billion, a PE ratio of 35.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.68. Entergy Corporation has a 1 year low of $50.19 and a 1 year high of $88.38. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $83.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $76.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.72.

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

Entergy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Entergy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 98.77%.

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.