Employees Retirement System of Texas Purchases 595,900 Shares of Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR)

Employees Retirement System of Texas increased its holdings in shares of Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) by 100.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,191,800 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 595,900 shares during the quarter. Entergy makes up about 0.8% of Employees Retirement System of Texas’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Employees Retirement System of Texas owned 0.28% of Entergy worth $90,362,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of ETR. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Entergy by 60.0% in the 4th quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 16,077 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,219,000 after purchasing an additional 6,028 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Entergy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,393,000. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Entergy by 74.3% in the fourth quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 7,959 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $603,000 after buying an additional 3,393 shares during the last quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC bought a new position in shares of Entergy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $217,000. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in shares of Entergy by 74.3% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 670,923 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $50,869,000 after acquiring an additional 286,005 shares during the last quarter. 88.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on ETR. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Entergy from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Entergy from $86.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Entergy from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Entergy from $85.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Entergy from $87.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.04.

Entergy Trading Up 1.8%

ETR opened at $82.78 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $35.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.00, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.62. 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’s 50 day moving average is $82.92 and its 200-day moving average is $80.51. Entergy Corporation has a 1-year low of $52.07 and a 1-year high of $88.38.

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

Entergy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 2nd. Entergy’s payout ratio is 77.92%.

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.