Victory Capital Management Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR)

Victory Capital Management Inc. lowered its position in Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR - Free Report) by 13.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 560,612 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 88,733 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned 0.26% of Entergy worth $73,782,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Entergy by 3.2% during the third quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,727 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $491,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the period. First Heartland Consultants Inc. bought a new position in shares of Entergy in the 3rd quarter worth about $379,000. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Entergy by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 16,952 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,231,000 after acquiring an additional 336 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP boosted its stake in Entergy by 196.7% during the third quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 7,914 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,042,000 after acquiring an additional 5,247 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WCM Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Entergy by 324.7% in the third quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 18,942 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,484,000 after purchasing an additional 14,482 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.07% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Entergy

In other Entergy news, insider Haley Fisackerly sold 4,134 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.03, for a total value of $616,090.02. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 2,016 shares in the company, valued at $300,444.48. This represents a 67.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Andrew S. Marsh sold 600 shares of Entergy stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.03, for a total value of $72,018.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 150,731 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,092,241.93. The trade was a 0.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 40,472 shares of company stock valued at $5,076,328. Insiders own 0.39% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ETR. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Entergy from $137.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Morgan Stanley raised Entergy from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $116.00 to $150.00 in a report on Monday, November 4th. KeyCorp raised their price target on Entergy from $143.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Argus upgraded shares of Entergy to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Entergy from $138.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Entergy currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $150.96.

Entergy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ETR traded down $0.56 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $147.05. 1,750,877 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,612,035. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.98, a PEG ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.71. Entergy Co. has a one year low of $96.15 and a one year high of $156.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.89. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $133.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $119.52.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $2.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $3.39 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.46 billion. Entergy had a return on equity of 9.53% and a net margin of 14.83%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.27 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Entergy Co. will post 7.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Entergy Increases Dividend

The firm 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 represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.26%. This is a positive change from Entergy's previous quarterly dividend of $1.13. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 13th. Entergy's payout ratio is 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.