Gotham Asset Management LLC Purchases Shares of 3,208 Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR)

Gotham Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 3,208 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $243,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Entergy by 101.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,133,646 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,952,773,000 after purchasing an additional 26,312,267 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 10,347,926 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Entergy by 71.4% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 12,884,421 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $976,895,000 after buying an additional 5,368,396 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Entergy by 90.7% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 12,612,407 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $956,273,000 after buying an additional 5,998,760 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC increased its holdings in shares of Entergy by 66.7% in the fourth quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 11,042,159 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $837,216,000 after buying an additional 4,418,528 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.07% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on ETR shares. KeyCorp raised Entergy from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $85.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Entergy from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Barclays upped their price target on Entergy from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Entergy from $87.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Entergy from $85.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $86.04.

Entergy Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of NYSE ETR traded up $1.50 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $82.78. The company had a trading volume of 1,945,204 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,674,033. Entergy Corporation has a twelve month low of $52.07 and a twelve 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 capitalization of $35.66 billion, a PE ratio of 34.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.62. The stock's 50 day moving average is $82.92 and its 200-day moving average is $80.41.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.22. Entergy had a net margin of 8.90% and a return on equity of 10.68%. The business had revenue of $3.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.13 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.54 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Entergy Corporation will post 3.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Entergy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd will be issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 2nd. Entergy's dividend payout ratio 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.