Alkeon Capital Management LLC Grows Stake in Entergy Corporation $ETR

Alkeon Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) by 14.5% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,604,291 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 330,000 shares during the quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Entergy were worth $216,469,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ETR. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Entergy in the 2nd quarter valued at $468,628,000. Boston Partners lifted its position in Entergy by 114.9% in the second quarter. Boston Partners now owns 6,940,628 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $578,531,000 after acquiring an additional 3,710,814 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Entergy by 3.0% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 56,459,668 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,692,928,000 after acquiring an additional 1,630,674 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Entergy by 4.5% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 22,920,881 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,905,184,000 after purchasing an additional 981,750 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zimmer Partners LP increased its position in shares of Entergy by 285.5% during the first quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 1,133,474 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $96,901,000 after purchasing an additional 839,474 shares in the last quarter. 88.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Entergy Stock Down 1.1%

Entergy stock opened at $92.26 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $95.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $89.66. 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 $41.20 billion, a PE ratio of 22.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.62. 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 (NYSE:ETR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $2.37 billion during the quarter. Entergy had a return on equity of 11.53% and a net margin of 14.26%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Entergy Corporation will post 3.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Entergy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Investors 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 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 13th. Entergy’s payout ratio is presently 63.21%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ETR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $104.00 target price (up from $96.00) on shares of Entergy in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Entergy from $91.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. BTIG Research raised Entergy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley set a $91.00 target price on Entergy in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Entergy from $113.00 to $108.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $102.53.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Entergy news, insider Anastasia Minor sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.39, for a total value of $481,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 10,122 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $975,659.58. This trade represents a 33.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Ralph Lewis Ropp purchased 1,000 shares of Entergy stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were bought at an average price of $96.69 per share, with a total value of $96,690.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 1,050 shares in the company, valued at approximately $101,524.50. This trade represents a 2,000.00% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 10,179 shares of company stock worth $981,707. 0.39% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.