GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. Purchases 112,776 Shares of Entergy Corporation $ETR

Key Points

• GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. significantly increased its stake in Entergy Corporation by 102.9%, acquiring a total of 222,342 shares worth approximately $19 million as of the end of the recent quarter.
• Multiple institutional investors, including Bank of America and Aberiprise Financial, have also increased their positions in Entergy, indicating growing confidence in the utility provider.
• Entergy declared a quarterly dividend of $0.60 per share, which reflects an annualized dividend yield of 2.7% and a payout ratio of 59.85%.

GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. raised its stake in Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR - Free Report) by 102.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 222,342 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 112,776 shares during the period. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. owned 0.05% of Entergy worth $19,008,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Entergy by 5.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,828,994 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $4,687,331,000 after acquiring an additional 2,695,348 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position 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 worth $1,334,034,000 after acquiring an additional 10,347,926 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Entergy by 2.2% during the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 13,173,889 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,126,244,000 after acquiring an additional 289,468 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in shares of Entergy by 80.9% during the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 4,673,139 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $354,317,000 after acquiring an additional 2,089,169 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Entergy by 3.4% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,333,701 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $370,488,000 after acquiring an additional 143,187 shares in the last quarter. 88.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Entergy Stock Performance

ETR traded up $0.99 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $88.19. The company had a trading volume of 3,450,707 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,484,548. Entergy Corporation has a 12-month low of $60.00 and a 12-month high of $92.40. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $86.91 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $84.41. The stock has a market cap of $39.37 billion, a PE ratio of 21.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $3.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.11 billion. Entergy had a return on equity of 11.52% and a net margin of 14.35%.During the same period last year, the company earned $1.92 earnings per share. Entergy has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.750-3.95 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Entergy Corporation will post 3.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Entergy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 13th were paid a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 13th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. Entergy's dividend payout ratio is currently 59.85%.

Insider Transactions at Entergy

In other news, insider Haley Fisackerly sold 4,463 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.50, for a total transaction of $403,901.50. Following the sale, the insider owned 3,318 shares in the company, valued at approximately $300,279. This trade represents a 57.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.47% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $86.00 target price on shares of Entergy and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Mizuho set a $97.00 target price on shares of Entergy and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial began coverage on shares of Entergy in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They issued a "market perform" rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Entergy from $102.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Entergy from $91.00 to $87.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $89.87.

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.