ProVise Management Group LLC Increases Holdings in Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR)

ProVise Management Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) by 92.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 75,465 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 36,239 shares during the quarter. ProVise Management Group LLC’s holdings in Entergy were worth $5,722,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Entergy during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. NBT Bank N A NY raised its position in Entergy by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. NBT Bank N A NY now owns 340 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the period. Fortis Group Advisors LLC raised its position in Entergy by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC now owns 344 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the period. Duncker Streett & Co. Inc. raised its position in Entergy by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. Duncker Streett & Co. Inc. now owns 358 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the period. Finally, Riverview Trust Co raised its position in Entergy by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 364 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the period. 88.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Entergy Price Performance

NYSE ETR opened at $83.46 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.72. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $82.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $74.66. Entergy Corporation has a 52-week low of $50.19 and a 52-week high of $88.38. The company has a market cap of $35.92 billion, a PE ratio of 34.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.68.

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

Entergy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.88%. Entergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 98.77%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ETR. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on shares of Entergy from $165.00 to $82.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Entergy from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of Entergy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $86.50 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Entergy from $79.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, KeyCorp downgraded shares of Entergy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Entergy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.11.

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.