Centre Asset Management LLC Acquires New Position in Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR)

Centre Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 3,137 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $268,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Entergy by 60.0% during the 4th quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 16,077 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,219,000 after buying an additional 6,028 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Entergy in the 4th quarter valued at $4,393,000. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Entergy in the 4th quarter valued at $217,000. Bank of Montreal Can raised its holdings in shares of Entergy by 74.3% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 670,923 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $50,869,000 after purchasing an additional 286,005 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Entergy by 324.3% in the 4th quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 734 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 561 shares in the last quarter. 88.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ETR shares. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Entergy in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Entergy from $87.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Entergy from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Entergy from $85.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Entergy from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Entergy currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $86.04.

Entergy Stock Performance

Entergy stock traded down $0.47 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $82.81. 797,525 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,634,366. Entergy Corporation has a 12-month low of $52.07 and a 12-month high of $88.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.72. The stock has a market cap of $35.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.62. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $82.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $80.80.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.22. Entergy had a net margin of 8.90% and a return on equity of 10.68%. The company had revenue of $3.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.13 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.54 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Entergy Corporation will post 3.88 EPS for the current year.

Entergy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd will be paid a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 2nd. Entergy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.