Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) Stake Boosted by Pinebridge Investments L.P.

Pinebridge Investments L.P. raised its position in shares of Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR - Free Report) by 55.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,284 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 11,493 shares during the period. Pinebridge Investments L.P.'s holdings in Entergy were worth $2,448,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ETR. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Entergy by 101.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,133,646 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,952,773,000 after purchasing an additional 26,312,267 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in Entergy by 90.7% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 12,612,407 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $956,273,000 after buying an additional 5,998,760 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Entergy by 106.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,236,816 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $774,103,000 after buying an additional 5,271,559 shares during the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC grew its stake in Entergy by 66.7% during the 4th quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 11,042,159 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $837,216,000 after buying an additional 4,418,528 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Entergy by 76.3% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 10,079,631 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $764,238,000 after buying an additional 4,360,772 shares during the last quarter. 88.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ETR. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Entergy from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Scotiabank dropped their price target on Entergy from $165.00 to $82.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Entergy from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays boosted their price objective on Entergy from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Entergy from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $86.50 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $85.75.

Entergy Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:ETR traded up $0.26 during trading on Thursday, reaching $83.43. The stock had a trading volume of 3,630,696 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,677,152. Entergy Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $52.07 and a fifty-two week high of $88.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $83.38 and a 200-day moving average price of $78.78. The stock has a market cap of $35.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.26, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.56.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $3.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.13 billion. Entergy had a return on equity of 10.68% and a net margin of 8.90%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.54 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Entergy Corporation will post 3.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Entergy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders 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 2.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 2nd. Entergy's dividend payout ratio is presently 98.77%.

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.