QRG Capital Management Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR)

QRG Capital Management Inc. decreased its position in Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR - Free Report) by 20.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 230,561 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 58,626 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.05% of Entergy worth $19,711,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Entergy by 60.0% in the fourth quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 16,077 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,219,000 after purchasing an additional 6,028 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Entergy during the 4th quarter worth about $4,393,000. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC bought a new position in Entergy in the 4th quarter valued at $217,000. Bank of Montreal Can increased its position in Entergy by 74.3% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 670,923 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $50,869,000 after purchasing an additional 286,005 shares during the period. Finally, Braun Stacey Associates Inc. lifted its position in Entergy by 88.8% during the 4th quarter. Braun Stacey Associates Inc. now owns 360,502 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $27,333,000 after purchasing an additional 169,511 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.07% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on ETR shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Entergy from $85.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Entergy from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Entergy in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Entergy from $87.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Entergy from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $86.04.

Entergy Stock Performance

ETR traded down $0.37 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $81.70. The company had a trading volume of 2,147,434 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,590,330. Entergy Corporation has a 12-month low of $52.07 and a 12-month high of $88.38. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $82.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $81.24. The stock has a market cap of $35.19 billion, a PE ratio of 33.55, 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.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.22. Entergy had a return on equity of 10.68% and a net margin of 8.90%. The business had revenue of $3.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.13 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.54 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Entergy Corporation will post 3.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Entergy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd were paid a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. Entergy's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.