Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Raises Holdings in Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR)

Key Points

• Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in Entergy Corporation by 25.1%, owning a total of 82,751 shares valued at approximately $7,074,000 as of its latest SEC filing.
• Institutional investors collectively own 88.07% of Entergy's shares, with Brighton Jones LLC recording a 275.6% increase in its holdings during the last quarter.
• Entergy recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.60 per share, representing an annualized yield of 2.72%.

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR - Free Report) by 25.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 82,751 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 16,625 shares during the quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.'s holdings in Entergy were worth $7,074,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ETR. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in Entergy by 275.6% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 9,176 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $696,000 after buying an additional 6,733 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Entergy by 58.6% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 239,358 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $18,148,000 after buying an additional 88,456 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp increased its holdings in Entergy by 54.1% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 202,299 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $15,338,000 after buying an additional 71,001 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP increased its holdings in Entergy by 35.0% during the fourth quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 417,072 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $31,622,000 after buying an additional 108,097 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Entergy by 122.6% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 704,358 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $54,010,000 after buying an additional 387,985 shares during the period. 88.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Entergy from $91.00 to $87.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 10th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Entergy from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on shares of Entergy in a report on Friday, June 13th. They issued a "market perform" rating on the stock. 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 note on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Entergy from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $86.46.

Entergy Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of Entergy stock opened at $88.20 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $82.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $82.80. The company has a market cap of $37.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.59. Entergy Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $56.00 and a fifty-two week high of $89.35. 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 earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $3.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.13 billion. Entergy had a net margin of 11.26% and a return on equity of 11.43%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.54 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Entergy Corporation will post 3.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Entergy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 13th 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 2.72%. Entergy's dividend payout ratio is currently 77.92%.

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.

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