Ameriprise Financial Inc. Acquires 5,368,396 Shares of Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) by 71.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,884,421 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,368,396 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc.’s holdings in Entergy were worth $976,895,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fortis Group Advisors LLC boosted its holdings 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 worth $26,000 after buying an additional 172 shares during the period. NBT Bank N A NY lifted its position in Entergy by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. NBT Bank N A NY now owns 340 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Duncker Streett & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in Entergy by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. Duncker Streett & Co. Inc. now owns 358 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. Sandy Spring Bank boosted its stake in Entergy by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 358 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the period. Finally, Riverview Trust Co grew its holdings in Entergy by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 364 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ETR shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Entergy from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Entergy from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Entergy in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Entergy from $87.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Scotiabank cut their target price on Entergy from $165.00 to $82.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.75.

Entergy Trading Up 1.3 %

ETR opened at $84.47 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.59. Entergy Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $52.07 and a fifty-two week high of $88.38. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $83.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $79.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.69, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.62.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $3.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.13 billion. Entergy had a net margin of 8.90% and a return on equity of 10.68%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.54 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Entergy Corporation will post 3.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Entergy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd will be paid a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 2nd. Entergy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.92%.

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.