Ascent Group LLC Has $2.96 Million Position in Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR)

Ascent Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR - Free Report) by 106.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 38,973 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 20,113 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC's holdings in Entergy were worth $2,955,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ETR. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Entergy by 101.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,133,646 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,952,773,000 after acquiring an additional 26,312,267 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in shares of Entergy by 142.8% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 17,594,747 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,334,034,000 after acquiring an additional 10,347,926 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Entergy by 71.4% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 12,884,421 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $976,895,000 after acquiring an additional 5,368,396 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Entergy by 90.7% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 12,612,407 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $956,273,000 after acquiring an additional 5,998,760 shares during the period. Finally, Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Entergy by 66.7% during the fourth quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 11,042,159 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $837,216,000 after acquiring an additional 4,418,528 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.07% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on ETR. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Entergy from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Entergy from $86.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Entergy from $85.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Entergy from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Entergy in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $86.04.

Entergy Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of ETR traded up $0.45 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $82.26. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,805,694 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,657,038. The firm has a market cap of $35.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.62. Entergy Corporation has a 1-year low of $52.07 and a 1-year 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 company has a 50 day moving average of $82.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $80.60.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $3.02 billion for 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 quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.54 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Entergy Corporation will post 3.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Entergy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd will be issued a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.92%. Entergy's dividend payout ratio is 77.92%.

Entergy 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.