55,021 Entergy Corporation $ETR Shares Purchased by Pictet Asset Management Holding SA

Key Points

• Pictet Asset Management increased its Entergy stake by 2.2%, adding 55,021 shares to bring its holdings to about 2.59 million shares, valued at $257.4 million.
• Entergy beat quarterly estimates, reporting EPS of $1.98 versus $1.73 expected and revenue of $4.37 billion versus $4.12 billion. It also raised its quarterly dividend from $0.64 to $0.68 per share.
• Analysts’ consensus rating was “Moderate Buy”, with an average price target of $121.57; 20 analysts rated the stock Buy and two rated it Hold.

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its holdings in shares of Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR - Free Report) by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,592,948 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 55,021 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned about 0.56% of Entergy worth $257,376,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ETR. Callan Family Office LLC bought a new position in Entergy in the 2nd quarter worth about $3,250,000. Nykredit A S bought a new stake in shares of Entergy during the second quarter valued at approximately $22,064,000. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new stake in shares of Entergy during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,843,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its position in shares of Entergy by 18.3% during the first quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 180,358 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $20,265,000 after buying an additional 27,868 shares during the period. Finally, E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB boosted its position in shares of Entergy by 27.6% during the third quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB now owns 21,797 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,164,000 after buying an additional 4,710 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.07% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Laura Landreaux sold 5,600 shares of Entergy stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.20, for a total transaction of $594,720.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 22,589 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,398,951.80. This trade represents a 19.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on ETR shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Entergy from $98.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Wall Street Zen raised Entergy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on Entergy from $124.00 to $123.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $115.00 price target (down from $128.00) on shares of Entergy in a research report on Monday, October 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Entergy from $137.00 to $130.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $121.57.

Entergy Stock Up 0.1%

ETR stock opened at $110.42 on Friday. The firm's 50-day moving average is $104.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $107.68. The company has a market capitalization of $52.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.44. Entergy Corporation has a 52 week low of $90.87 and a 52 week high of $118.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.25. Entergy had a net margin of 14.63% and a return on equity of 11.44%. The business had revenue of $4.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.12 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.53 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Entergy Corporation will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Entergy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.68 per share. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 13th. This is an increase from Entergy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. Entergy's dividend payout ratio is 62.53%.

Entergy Profile

Entergy Corporation is an investor-owned energy company headquartered in New Orleans. Its primary business is providing regulated electric utility service to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Through its utility subsidiaries, Entergy serves communities in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Its operations include generating, transmitting and distributing electricity, with power produced from a mix of sources that includes nuclear energy.

The company traces its corporate history to Middle South Utilities, which adopted the Entergy name in 1989.

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