Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. Makes New $257,000 Investment in Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR)

Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 3,388 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $257,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ETR. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Entergy by 53.0% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,718,859 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $754,318,000 after buying an additional 1,981,611 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in Entergy by 139.5% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,423,556 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $183,754,000 after acquiring an additional 1,411,473 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Entergy by 105.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,748,828 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $208,416,000 after acquiring an additional 1,408,476 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Entergy by 60.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,589,727 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $472,444,000 after acquiring an additional 1,354,355 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Entergy during the fourth quarter valued at about $101,133,000. 88.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on ETR. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Entergy from $72.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. KeyCorp cut shares of Entergy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Entergy from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of Entergy from $165.00 to $82.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of Entergy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $86.50 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Six investment 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.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.14.

Entergy Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of ETR opened at $81.23 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $81.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $73.50. The stock has a market cap of $34.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.68. Entergy Corporation has a 12 month low of $50.19 and a 12 month high of $88.38.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.24 billion. Entergy had a return on equity of 10.68% and a net margin of 8.90%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.26 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Entergy Corporation will post 3.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Entergy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.95%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Entergy’s payout ratio is 98.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Entergy

In other news, insider Deanna D. Rodriguez sold 6,088 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.94, for a total value of $450,146.72. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,952 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $292,210.88. The trade was a 60.64 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

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.