Entergy Corporation $ETR Stock: Rakuten Investment Management Inc. Grows Stake

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) by 11.8% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 83,753 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,866 shares during the period. Rakuten Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Entergy were worth $8,355,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Entergy in the second quarter worth $4,861,376,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in Entergy during the second quarter worth $1,991,669,000. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC acquired a new position in Entergy during the second quarter worth $633,338,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in Entergy during the second quarter valued at about $430,404,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG bought a new position in Entergy during the second quarter valued at about $289,303,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ETR. Bank of America boosted their price target on Entergy from $112.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Monday, July 27th. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on Entergy from $123.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 13th. Evercore raised their price objective on Entergy from $121.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. HSBC began coverage on Entergy in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $123.50 target price for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Entergy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday, August 9th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $121.57.

Entergy Stock Performance

NYSE:ETR opened at $110.49 on Friday. Entergy Corporation has a 1 year low of $90.87 and a 1 year high of $118.44. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $104.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $107.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.80 billion, a PE ratio of 25.55, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.44.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.98 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $4.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.12 billion. Entergy had a net margin of 14.63% and a return on equity of 11.44%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.53 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Entergy Corporation will post 4.41 EPS for the current year.

Entergy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 13th will be given a $0.68 dividend. This is an increase from Entergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 13th. Entergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.85%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Laura Landreaux sold 5,600 shares of Entergy stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.20, for a total value of $594,720.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 22,589 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,398,951.80. The trade was a 19.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Entergy Profile

Entergy Corporation is an integrated energy company that operates as a regulated electric utility. Through its operating companies, the company generates, transmits and distributes electricity to residential, commercial, industrial and governmental customers. Its generation portfolio includes nuclear, natural gas, renewable and other power resources, while its transmission and distribution networks deliver electricity across its service territories.

Entergy serves customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas, including the New Orleans area through Entergy New Orleans.