First Trust Advisors LP Sells 754,370 Shares of Entergy Corporation $ETR

First Trust Advisors LP cut its holdings in Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) by 47.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 833,790 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 754,370 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Entergy were worth $69,305,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. First American Trust FSB bought a new position in shares of Entergy during the first quarter valued at $3,896,000. HB Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Entergy by 15.2% during the 2nd quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 22,271 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,851,000 after purchasing an additional 2,932 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in Entergy by 26.0% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 96,142 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,219,000 after purchasing an additional 19,862 shares in the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI purchased a new position in Entergy in the first quarter worth about $32,658,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in shares of Entergy by 369.8% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 86,001 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,352,000 after buying an additional 67,696 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.07% of the company’s stock.

Entergy Stock Performance

ETR stock opened at $94.27 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.48. Entergy Corporation has a 1 year low of $73.15 and a 1 year high of $98.58. The company has a market cap of $42.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.62. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $95.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $89.38.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $2.37 billion for the quarter. Entergy had a return on equity of 11.53% and a net margin of 14.26%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Entergy Corporation will post 3.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Entergy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 13th were issued a dividend of $0.64 per share. This is an increase from Entergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 13th. Entergy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.21%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Anastasia Minor sold 5,000 shares of Entergy stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.39, for a total transaction of $481,950.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 10,122 shares in the company, valued at $975,659.58. This trade represents a 33.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Haley Fisackerly sold 5,136 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.50, for a total value of $495,624.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 7,899 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $762,253.50. This trade represents a 39.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 10,179 shares of company stock worth $981,707. Company insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ETR has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays set a $100.00 price target on shares of Entergy and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Scotiabank set a $105.00 target price on Entergy and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Entergy from $98.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. BTIG Research raised Entergy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Entergy from $91.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $102.47.

Entergy 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.