Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. Has $3.53 Million Position in Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR)

Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR) by 7.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 33,011 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,196 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Entergy were worth $3,532,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Capital International Investors increased its stake in shares of Entergy by 64.2% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,170,045 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $440,690,000 after buying an additional 1,630,057 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Entergy in the fourth quarter valued at about $127,675,000. Confluence Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Entergy in the first quarter valued at about $92,257,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Entergy by 25.2% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,961,859 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $400,901,000 after buying an additional 796,316 shares during the period. Finally, ClearBridge Investments Ltd increased its stake in shares of Entergy by 29.3% in the fourth quarter. ClearBridge Investments Ltd now owns 3,115,468 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $315,254,000 after buying an additional 706,059 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ETR. Argus raised Entergy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Entergy from $131.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Scotiabank raised their target price on Entergy from $115.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Entergy from $124.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on Entergy from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $123.04.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Entergy news, CEO Andrew S. Marsh sold 600 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 150,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,092,241.93. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, COO Peter S. Norgeot, Jr. sold 11,472 shares of Entergy stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.16, for a total value of $1,321,115.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 37,888 shares in the company, valued at $4,363,182.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Andrew S. Marsh sold 600 shares of Entergy stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.03, for a total value of $72,018.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 150,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,092,241.93. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 15,272 shares of company stock valued at $1,781,806 over the last ninety days. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Entergy Stock Performance

Shares of Entergy stock opened at $120.69 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $112.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $108.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.71. Entergy Co. has a 12 month low of $87.10 and a 12 month high of $123.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by $0.16. Entergy had a return on equity of 10.10% and a net margin of 14.75%. The business had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.98 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.84 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Entergy Co. will post 7.21 EPS for the current year.

Entergy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 13th will be given a $1.13 dividend. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.75%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 13th. Entergy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.34%.

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.