Sigma Planning Corp Purchases 143 Shares of Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR)

Sigma Planning Corp lifted its position in shares of Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR) by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,182 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the quarter. Sigma Planning Corp’s holdings in Entergy were worth $419,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Entergy in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Cetera Trust Company N.A bought a new stake in Entergy in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its position in Entergy by 423.8% in the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 220 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. American National Bank lifted its stake in Entergy by 93.7% during the second quarter. American National Bank now owns 277 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the period. Finally, TruNorth Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Entergy during the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 88.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Entergy

In other news, CEO Andrew S. Marsh sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.03, for a total value of $72,018.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 150,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,092,241.93. This represents a 0.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Peter S. Norgeot, Jr. sold 3,250 shares of Entergy stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.56, for a total value of $398,320.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 34,993 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,288,742.08. This trade represents a 8.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 40,472 shares of company stock worth $5,076,328 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on ETR shares. UBS Group raised their target price on Entergy from $143.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Entergy from $138.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Entergy from $143.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Argus upgraded shares of Entergy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Entergy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 9th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Entergy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $150.96.

Entergy Stock Up 1.4 %

NYSE:ETR opened at $149.13 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $31.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.89. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $134.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $119.71. Entergy Co. has a 52-week low of $96.15 and a 52-week high of $156.85.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $2.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $3.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.46 billion. Entergy had a return on equity of 9.53% and a net margin of 14.83%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.27 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Entergy Co. will post 7.21 EPS for the current year.

Entergy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be paid a dividend of $1.20 per share. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.22%. This is an increase from Entergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.13. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 13th. Entergy’s payout ratio is 58.47%.

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.