Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. Purchases 62,300 Shares of Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR)

Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. increased its position in Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) by 61.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 163,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 62,300 shares during the quarter. Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc.’s holdings in Entergy were worth $12,359,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Entergy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. NBT Bank N A NY lifted 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 buying an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC lifted 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 buying an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Duncker Streett & Co. Inc. lifted 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 buying an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sandy Spring Bank lifted its position in Entergy by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 358 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on ETR. StockNews.com upgraded Entergy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, December 29th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Entergy from $85.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on Entergy from $165.00 to $82.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Entergy from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Entergy from $72.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.32.

Entergy Price Performance

Shares of ETR stock opened at $84.62 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $36.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.75, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.68. The business’s fifty day moving average is $82.75 and its 200 day moving average is $74.80. Entergy Corporation has a twelve month low of $50.19 and a twelve month high of $88.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 prior year, the firm earned $0.26 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Entergy Corporation will post 3.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Entergy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors 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 2.84%. Entergy’s payout ratio is 98.77%.

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.