Lord Abbett & CO. LLC Sells 114,565 Shares of Entergy Corporation $ETR

Key Points

• Lord Abbett & CO. LLC reduced its holdings in Entergy Corporation by 3.7%, owning approximately $254 million worth of shares, making it the company's 22nd largest holding.
• Wall Street analysts have raised their target prices for Entergy, with BMO Capital Markets setting a new target of $93.00 and KeyCorp an even higher target of $96.00.
• Entergy recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.60 per share, with an annualized yield of 2.6%.

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR - Free Report) by 3.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,976,083 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 114,565 shares during the quarter. Entergy accounts for 0.9% of Lord Abbett & CO. LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC owned about 0.69% of Entergy worth $254,425,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Choreo LLC grew its stake in Entergy by 12.3% during the first quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 9,546 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $816,000 after buying an additional 1,042 shares during the period. First American Trust FSB purchased a new position in shares of Entergy in the first quarter valued at $3,896,000. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Entergy in the first quarter valued at $1,073,000. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Entergy by 25.4% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 78,470 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $6,708,000 after purchasing an additional 15,892 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Entergy by 85.9% in the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 4,178 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $317,000 after purchasing an additional 1,931 shares during the period. 88.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Haley Fisackerly sold 4,463 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider owned 3,318 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $300,279. This trade represents a 57.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.47% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ETR has been the subject of several analyst reports. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on shares of Entergy in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They issued a "market perform" rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Entergy from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. 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 reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $96.00 price target (up from $88.00) on shares of Entergy in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Entergy from $82.00 to $81.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. 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 MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $88.07.

Entergy Trading Down 1.3%

ETR stock traded down $1.20 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $87.92. 1,910,430 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,558,374. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73. Entergy Corporation has a 52-week low of $58.79 and a 52-week high of $92.40. The company has a market cap of $39.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.57. The stock's fifty day moving average is $85.15 and its 200-day moving average is $83.87.

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

Entergy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 13th will be given a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 13th. Entergy's dividend payout ratio is 59.85%.

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.