ClearBridge Investments Ltd Acquires 2,559,817 Shares of Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR)

ClearBridge Investments Ltd grew its position in Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR - Free Report) by 89.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,426,267 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,559,817 shares during the quarter. Entergy makes up approximately 10.8% of ClearBridge Investments Ltd's portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. ClearBridge Investments Ltd owned 1.27% of Entergy worth $411,420,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ETR. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Entergy by 101.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,133,646 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,952,773,000 after buying an additional 26,312,267 shares during the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC raised its stake in Entergy by 66.7% during the 4th quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 11,042,159 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $837,216,000 after purchasing an additional 4,418,528 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew 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 worth $558,279,000 after purchasing an additional 3,773,492 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Entergy in the 4th quarter worth $259,944,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Entergy by 53.0% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,718,859 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $754,318,000 after purchasing an additional 1,981,611 shares during the period. 88.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ETR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Entergy from $87.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. UBS Group raised their target price on Entergy from $86.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Entergy from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Entergy from $85.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their target price on shares of Entergy from $165.00 to $82.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $84.75.

Entergy Price Performance

Shares of ETR stock traded down $0.98 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $85.63. 2,249,081 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,597,605. The stock's 50-day moving average is $83.53 and its 200-day moving average is $76.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.59. Entergy Corporation has a 52 week low of $50.19 and a 52 week high of $88.38. The stock has a market cap of $36.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.17, 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 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $2.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.24 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.26 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Entergy Corporation will post 3.88 EPS for the current year.

Entergy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Entergy's dividend payout ratio is 98.77%.

Entergy Company 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.