Woodline Partners LP Acquires Shares of 25,752 Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR)

Woodline Partners LP acquired a new position in Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 25,752 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,953,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fortis Group Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Entergy by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC now owns 344 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the period. NBT Bank N A NY lifted its position in shares of Entergy by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. NBT Bank N A NY now owns 340 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Duncker Streett & Co. Inc. grew its stake in shares of Entergy by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. Duncker Streett & Co. Inc. now owns 358 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares during the period. Sandy Spring Bank increased its holdings in Entergy by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 358 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Riverview Trust Co increased its holdings in Entergy by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 364 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. 88.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on ETR shares. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Entergy from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $85.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Entergy from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Entergy in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Entergy from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Entergy from $86.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $86.04.

Entergy Price Performance

Entergy stock traded up $0.23 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $82.59. 507,512 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,647,002. Entergy Corporation has a one year low of $52.07 and a one year 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 cap of $35.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.62. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $82.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $80.64.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR - Get Free Report) last released its 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 return on equity of 10.68% and a net margin of 8.90%. The company had revenue of $3.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.13 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.54 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Entergy Corporation will post 3.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Entergy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 2nd. Entergy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.