Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Increases Stake in Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR)

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR - Free Report) by 1.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,201,620 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 19,452 shares during the period. Entergy makes up approximately 2.0% of Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.28% of Entergy worth $102,726,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ETR. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Entergy by 101.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,133,646 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,952,773,000 after acquiring an additional 26,312,267 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in shares of Entergy by 142.8% during the 4th 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. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Entergy by 90.7% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 12,612,407 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $956,273,000 after acquiring an additional 5,998,760 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Entergy by 71.4% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 12,884,421 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $976,895,000 after acquiring an additional 5,368,396 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Entergy by 106.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,236,816 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $774,103,000 after acquiring an additional 5,271,559 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.07% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on ETR shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Entergy from $87.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Raymond James started coverage on shares of Entergy in a research report on Friday. They issued a "market perform" rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised 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. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Entergy from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $85.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Entergy from $86.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Five research 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, Entergy currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $86.04.

Entergy Stock Performance

Shares of ETR traded down $1.31 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $81.98. 2,540,283 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,593,952. Entergy Corporation has a 1 year low of $52.07 and a 1 year high of $88.38. The stock has a market cap of $35.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.59. 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 50-day moving average price of $82.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $81.20.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 8.90% and a return on equity of 10.68%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.54 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Entergy Corporation will post 3.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Entergy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.93%. Entergy's dividend payout ratio is 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.