abrdn plc Increases Position in Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR)

abrdn plc increased its stake in shares of Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR) by 1.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 107,966 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,984 shares during the quarter. abrdn plc’s holdings in Entergy were worth $14,200,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Entergy by 6.3% in the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 234,595 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,275,000 after purchasing an additional 13,882 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its position in Entergy by 55.4% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 14,877 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,571,000 after buying an additional 5,303 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Entergy in the 1st quarter worth $1,245,000. Cetera Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Entergy by 145.2% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 24,136 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,551,000 after acquiring an additional 14,293 shares in the last quarter. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Entergy by 17.5% during the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 41,605 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,397,000 after acquiring an additional 6,197 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.07% of the company’s stock.

Entergy Trading Down 6.5 %

Shares of ETR opened at $144.79 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.62. Entergy Co. has a 1-year low of $94.85 and a 1-year high of $156.85. The stock has a market cap of $30.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.74. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $129.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $117.12.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $2.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.08. Entergy had a return on equity of 10.10% and a net margin of 14.75%. The company had revenue of $3.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.27 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Entergy Co. will post 7.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Entergy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be given a $1.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 13th. This is a boost from Entergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.13. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.32%. Entergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.47%.

Insider Activity at Entergy

In other Entergy news, COO Peter S. Norgeot, Jr. sold 7,922 shares of Entergy stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total value of $1,029,860.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 34,993 shares in the company, valued at $4,549,090. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, COO Peter S. Norgeot, Jr. sold 7,922 shares of Entergy stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total value of $1,029,860.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 34,993 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,549,090. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Peter S. Norgeot, Jr. sold 3,250 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.56, for a total transaction 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 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 50,810 shares of company stock worth $6,140,626. 0.39% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on ETR shares. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Entergy from $119.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday. UBS Group upped their price objective on Entergy from $143.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. KeyCorp raised their target price on Entergy from $143.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Entergy from $109.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Entergy from $137.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $141.96.

About Entergy

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.