Swiss National Bank Acquires 2,300 Shares of Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR)

Swiss National Bank lifted its holdings in Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR) by 0.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 633,700 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,300 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Entergy were worth $83,401,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ETR. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Entergy by 47.1% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,479,044 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $693,260,000 after purchasing an additional 2,075,776 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in Entergy by 64.2% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,170,045 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $440,690,000 after purchasing an additional 1,630,057 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in Entergy by 185.5% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,876,672 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $200,804,000 after purchasing an additional 1,219,419 shares during the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC lifted its stake in Entergy by 12.4% in the second quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 6,926,492 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $741,135,000 after purchasing an additional 763,834 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Entergy by 89.2% in the second quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,073,603 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $114,876,000 after purchasing an additional 506,239 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Entergy from $137.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Entergy from $166.00 to $159.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. StockNews.com raised shares of Entergy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 9th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Entergy from $143.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of Entergy from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $150.42.

Insider Buying and Selling at Entergy

In other Entergy news, COO Peter S. Norgeot, Jr. sold 3,250 shares of Entergy stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.56, for a total transaction of $398,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 34,993 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,288,742.08. The trade was a 8.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Andrew S. Marsh sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.03, for a total value of $72,018.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 150,731 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,092,241.93. This represents a 0.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 40,472 shares of company stock worth $5,076,328 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Entergy Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:ETR opened at $149.20 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77. The company has a market capitalization of $31.99 billion, a PE ratio of 18.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.71. Entergy Co. has a 12-month low of $96.15 and a 12-month high of $156.85. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $135.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $120.49.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $2.99 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $3.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.46 billion. Entergy had a net margin of 14.83% and a return on equity of 9.53%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.27 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Entergy Co. will post 7.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Entergy Increases Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $1.20 per share. This is a boost from Entergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.13. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.22%. Entergy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.47%.

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.