Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Purchases 953,145 Shares of Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR - Free Report) by 87.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,038,004 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 953,145 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned 0.48% of Entergy worth $154,522,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ETR. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its holdings in Entergy by 91.7% in the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 866,769 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $65,705,000 after acquiring an additional 414,549 shares during the period. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Entergy by 93.7% during the fourth quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,637 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $503,000 after purchasing an additional 3,210 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Entergy by 72.7% during the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 283,585 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $21,501,000 after purchasing an additional 119,374 shares during the period. Optivise Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Entergy by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. Optivise Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,548 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $345,000 after purchasing an additional 2,274 shares during the period. Finally, State of Tennessee Department of Treasury increased its holdings in shares of Entergy by 131.5% during the fourth quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury now owns 153,258 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $11,620,000 after purchasing an additional 87,062 shares during the period. 88.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Entergy in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Entergy from $85.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of Entergy from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $86.50 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Entergy from $86.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Entergy from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Entergy presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $85.75.

Entergy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ETR traded up $0.26 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $83.43. 3,630,696 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,677,152. Entergy Corporation has a 12-month low of $52.07 and a 12-month high of $88.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The company has a market cap of $35.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.26, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.56. The business's fifty day moving average price is $83.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $78.78.

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

Entergy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd will be paid a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 2nd. Entergy's dividend payout ratio is currently 98.77%.

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.