Ausbil Investment Management Ltd Sells 8,679 Shares of Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR)

Ausbil Investment Management Ltd cut its position in Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR - Free Report) by 9.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 82,042 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 8,679 shares during the period. Entergy comprises about 4.5% of Ausbil Investment Management Ltd's portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd's holdings in Entergy were worth $7,014,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Entergy by 1.1% in the first quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 49,887 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $4,265,000 after purchasing an additional 544 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Entergy by 25.4% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 78,470 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $6,708,000 after acquiring an additional 15,892 shares in the last quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund increased its position in shares of Entergy by 96.3% during the first quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 12,398 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,060,000 after acquiring an additional 6,083 shares in the last quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Entergy by 3.6% during the first quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 6,356 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $543,000 after acquiring an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First American Bank increased its position in shares of Entergy by 32.0% during the first quarter. First American Bank now owns 36,106 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,087,000 after acquiring an additional 8,750 shares in the last quarter. 88.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ETR shares. KeyCorp raised shares of Entergy from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $85.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Entergy from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Entergy from $82.00 to $81.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Entergy from $86.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Raymond James Financial started coverage on shares of Entergy in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They set a "market perform" rating for the company. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Entergy presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $86.25.

Entergy Stock Up 0.5%

Entergy stock traded up $0.39 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $83.00. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,990,995 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,592,686. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $82.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $81.45. Entergy Corporation has a 12 month low of $52.07 and a 12 month high of $88.38. The company has a market capitalization of $35.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.82.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $3.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.13 billion. Entergy had a net margin of 11.26% and a return on equity of 11.43%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.54 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate 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 Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.89%. Entergy's dividend payout ratio is presently 77.92%.

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.