OCONNOR A Distinct Business Unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Entergy Corporation $ETR

OCONNOR A Distinct Business Unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC reduced its position in shares of Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) by 20.5% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 114,130 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 29,470 shares during the quarter. OCONNOR A Distinct Business Unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC’s holdings in Entergy were worth $9,486,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Nebula Research & Development LLC boosted its stake in shares of Entergy by 54.0% during the 2nd quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC now owns 31,092 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,584,000 after acquiring an additional 10,903 shares during the last quarter. HighVista Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of Entergy during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,272,000. Arrow Capital Pty Ltd purchased a new stake in Entergy in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,851,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Entergy during the 2nd quarter valued at $17,225,000. Finally, Investment Management Corp of Ontario boosted its holdings in Entergy by 73.0% in the 2nd quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 79,327 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,594,000 after buying an additional 33,471 shares during the period. 88.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays set a $100.00 target price on Entergy and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Entergy in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. They set a “buy” rating and a $109.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Entergy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Entergy from $98.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $106.00 target price (up from $96.00) on shares of Entergy in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $102.47.

Entergy Price Performance

ETR opened at $93.33 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The business has a fifty day moving average of $95.55 and a 200 day moving average of $89.57. Entergy Corporation has a 52-week low of $73.15 and a 52-week high of $98.58. The stock has a market cap of $41.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.05, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.62.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $2.37 billion for the quarter. Entergy had a net margin of 14.26% and a return on equity of 11.53%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Entergy Corporation will post 3.88 EPS for the current year.

Entergy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 13th were paid a $0.64 dividend. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. This is an increase from Entergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 13th. Entergy’s payout ratio is currently 63.21%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Ralph Lewis Ropp bought 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $96.69 per share, with a total value of $96,690.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 1,050 shares in the company, valued at approximately $101,524.50. This trade represents a 2,000.00% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Haley Fisackerly sold 5,136 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.50, for a total value of $495,624.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 7,899 shares in the company, valued at approximately $762,253.50. This represents a 39.40% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 10,179 shares of company stock worth $981,707 in the last ninety days. 0.39% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.