Lee Financial Co Grows Stake in Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR)

Lee Financial Co increased its holdings in shares of Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR - Free Report) by 102.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 23,396 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 11,838 shares during the period. Lee Financial Co's holdings in Entergy were worth $1,774,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Entergy during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Cetera Trust Company N.A acquired a new stake in Entergy in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its stake in Entergy by 423.8% in the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 220 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. IFS Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Entergy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Ulland Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Entergy by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. Ulland Investment Advisors LLC now owns 400 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. 88.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Entergy

In other Entergy news, insider Deanna D. Rodriguez sold 6,088 shares of Entergy stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.94, for a total value of $450,146.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 3,952 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $292,210.88. The trade was a 60.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.54% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Entergy Stock Performance

Shares of Entergy stock traded down $0.10 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $87.31. 4,674,967 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,805,474. 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 business has a 50-day simple moving average of $78.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $71.08. Entergy Corporation has a 52-week low of $49.80 and a 52-week high of $88.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.27, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.72.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.03. Entergy had a net margin of 14.83% and a return on equity of 9.53%. The firm had revenue of $2.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.24 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.26 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Entergy Corporation will post 3.63 EPS for the current year.

Entergy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.75%. Entergy's payout ratio is 58.47%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on ETR shares. Scotiabank lowered their target price on shares of Entergy from $165.00 to $82.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Entergy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, December 29th. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Entergy from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Entergy from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and raised their target price for the company from $58.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Entergy from $68.50 to $76.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Six research 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, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $82.14.

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.