VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Invests $27 Million in Entergy Corporation $ETR

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new stake in shares of Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 324,856 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $27,002,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ETR. Mattson Financial Services LLC lifted its holdings in Entergy by 100.0% during the 1st quarter. Mattson Financial Services LLC now owns 300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. increased its position in Entergy by 135.7% in the 2nd quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 330 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new stake in Entergy in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Entergy in the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Wellington Shields & Co. LLC acquired a new stake in Entergy in the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. 88.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ETR has been the subject of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $104.00 price objective (up previously from $96.00) on shares of Entergy in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Entergy from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Entergy in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. They set a “buy” rating and a $109.00 price target for the company. Scotiabank set a $105.00 price target on shares of Entergy and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Entergy from $102.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Entergy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $97.57.

Entergy Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:ETR opened at $95.80 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $42.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a 50 day moving average of $91.02 and a 200-day moving average of $86.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.52. Entergy Corporation has a one year low of $66.75 and a one year high of $98.58.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $2.37 billion during the quarter. Entergy had a net margin of 14.35% and a return on equity of 11.52%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Entergy Corporation will post 3.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Entergy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 13th were issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 13th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. Entergy’s payout ratio is currently 59.85%.

Insider Transactions at Entergy

In related news, insider Haley Fisackerly sold 4,463 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.50, for a total transaction of $403,901.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 3,318 shares in the company, valued at approximately $300,279. The trade was a 57.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

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.