Argent Trust Co Purchases 6,695 Shares of Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR)

Argent Trust Co increased its holdings in shares of Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR - Free Report) by 89.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 14,154 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 6,695 shares during the quarter. Argent Trust Co's holdings in Entergy were worth $1,073,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ETR. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC increased its stake in shares of Entergy by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 4,308 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $567,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Entergy by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 65,017 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $8,557,000 after purchasing an additional 3,549 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp raised its position in Entergy by 9.5% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 12,094 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,592,000 after purchasing an additional 1,048 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Entergy by 0.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,965,257 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $651,206,000 after purchasing an additional 37,279 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Entergy by 7.8% in the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,727 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $761,000 after buying an additional 415 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.07% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ETR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Entergy from $79.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Entergy from $85.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. StockNews.com raised Entergy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, December 29th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Entergy from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Entergy from $87.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $85.25.

Entergy Stock Performance

Shares of ETR traded up $0.79 on Tuesday, reaching $83.37. 2,993,996 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,697,866. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $83.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $77.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The stock has a market cap of $35.91 billion, a PE ratio of 34.24, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.56. Entergy Corporation has a 52-week low of $50.19 and a 52-week high of $88.38.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR - Get Free Report) last posted its 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. Entergy had a net margin of 8.90% and a return on equity of 10.68%. The firm had revenue of $2.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.24 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.26 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Entergy Corporation will post 3.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Entergy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 2nd. Entergy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.