Balefire LLC Takes Position in Entergy Corporation $ETR

Balefire LLC acquired a new position in shares of Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 19,282 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,797,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ETR. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Entergy by 275.6% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 9,176 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $696,000 after buying an additional 6,733 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Entergy by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 10,137 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $867,000 after purchasing an additional 313 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Entergy by 2.7% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 245,890 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $21,021,000 after acquiring an additional 6,532 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its position in shares of Entergy by 17.7% in the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,974 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $169,000 after buying an additional 297 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Entergy by 3.4% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,333,701 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $370,488,000 after purchasing an additional 143,187 shares during the last quarter. 88.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Entergy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ETR opened at $91.83 on Thursday. Entergy Corporation has a 52-week low of $73.15 and a 52-week high of $98.58. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $95.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $89.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.67, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Entergy had a net margin of 14.26% and a return on equity of 11.53%. The business had revenue of $2.37 billion for the quarter. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Entergy Corporation will post 3.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Entergy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 13th were paid a dividend of $0.64 per share. This is an increase from Entergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 13th. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Entergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.21%.

Insider Activity

In related 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 value of $481,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 10,122 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $975,659.58. The trade was a 33.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Ralph Lewis Ropp acquired 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $96.69 per share, for a total transaction of $96,690.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 1,050 shares in the company, valued at $101,524.50. The trade was a 2,000.00% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 10,179 shares of company stock worth $981,707 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on ETR shares. Scotiabank set a $105.00 target price on shares of Entergy and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. BTIG Research raised shares of Entergy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley set a $91.00 price target on shares of Entergy in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Entergy from $97.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Entergy from $113.00 to $108.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. 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 data from MarketBeat.com, Entergy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $103.09.

Entergy Company 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.