R Squared Ltd Makes New $462,000 Investment in Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR)

Key Points

• R Squared Ltd has invested approximately $462,000 in Entergy Corporation by acquiring 5,408 shares, marking its new position in the utilities provider.
• Large investors have significantly increased their stakes in Entergy, with Bank of America increasing its ownership by 142.8% and other firms also showing substantial growth.
• Entergy has recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.60 per share, with an annualized dividend yield of 2.7%, indicating a solid return for shareholders.

R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 5,408 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $462,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in Entergy by 142.8% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 17,594,747 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,334,034,000 after buying an additional 10,347,926 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Entergy by 90.7% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 12,612,407 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $956,273,000 after acquiring an additional 5,998,760 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted 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 valued at $976,895,000 after acquiring an additional 5,368,396 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in Entergy by 103.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 7,773,654 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $589,389,000 after acquiring an additional 3,956,122 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Entergy by 63.8% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,514,250 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $645,550,000 after purchasing an additional 3,316,758 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.07% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Entergy news, insider Haley Fisackerly sold 4,463 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.50, for a total value of $403,901.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 3,318 shares in the company, valued at approximately $300,279. The trade was a 57.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ETR. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on Entergy in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They set a "market perform" rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Entergy from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. 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 report on Thursday, July 10th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Entergy from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Entergy from $82.00 to $81.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $88.07.

Entergy Stock Performance

Shares of Entergy stock traded up $1.98 on Monday, reaching $91.65. 3,509,584 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,721,498. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.48 billion, a PE ratio of 22.83, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The company has a 50 day moving average of $83.55 and a 200 day moving average of $83.22. Entergy Corporation has a 52 week low of $57.58 and a 52 week high of $91.90.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.05 earnings per share 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 return on equity of 11.52% and a net margin of 14.35%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.92 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Entergy Corporation will post 3.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Entergy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 13th will be paid a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 13th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. Entergy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.85%.

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.