Aviva PLC Grows Stock Holdings in Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR)

Aviva PLC lifted its stake in shares of Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR - Free Report) by 100.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,720 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,360 shares during the period. Aviva PLC's holdings in Entergy were worth $510,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in ETR. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Entergy by 101.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,133,646 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,952,773,000 after purchasing an additional 26,312,267 shares during the period. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC grew its stake in shares of Entergy by 66.7% in the fourth quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 11,042,159 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $837,216,000 after acquiring an additional 4,418,528 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Entergy by 106.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,236,816 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $774,103,000 after purchasing an additional 5,271,559 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Entergy by 76.3% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 10,079,631 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $764,238,000 after purchasing an additional 4,360,772 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Entergy by 105.1% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,363,219 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $558,279,000 after purchasing an additional 3,773,492 shares in the last quarter. 88.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

ETR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI boosted 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Entergy from $79.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Entergy from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $86.50 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Scotiabank cut their price objective on shares of Entergy from $165.00 to $82.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Entergy has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $85.25.

Entergy Price Performance

Shares of Entergy stock traded up $0.79 on Tuesday, hitting $83.37. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,993,996 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,691,250. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $83.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $77.47. Entergy Corporation has a 52-week low of $50.19 and a 52-week high of $88.38. The company has a market capitalization of $35.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.56.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $2.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.24 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.26 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Entergy Corporation will post 3.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Entergy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 2nd. Entergy's payout ratio 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.