Barclays PLC Increases Holdings in Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR)

Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR - Free Report) by 53.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 824,135 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 286,309 shares during the period. Barclays PLC owned 0.19% of Entergy worth $62,486,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ETR. Fortis Group Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Entergy by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC now owns 344 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. NBT Bank N A NY lifted its holdings in Entergy by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. NBT Bank N A NY now owns 340 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the period. Duncker Streett & Co. Inc. boosted its position in Entergy by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. Duncker Streett & Co. Inc. now owns 358 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. Sandy Spring Bank grew its holdings in Entergy by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 358 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares during the period. Finally, Riverview Trust Co raised its position in shares of Entergy by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 364 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.07% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on ETR shares. Scotiabank cut their target price on Entergy from $165.00 to $82.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Evercore ISI raised 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. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Entergy from $79.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Entergy from $86.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Entergy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, December 29th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $85.25.

Entergy Stock Up 2.8 %

Shares of Entergy stock traded up $2.25 on Tuesday, hitting $82.76. The company had a trading volume of 328,411 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,275,789. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.72. Entergy Corporation has a 1 year low of $51.74 and a 1 year high of $88.38. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $83.49 and a 200-day moving average of $78.04.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.24 billion. Entergy had a return on equity of 10.68% and a net margin of 8.90%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.26 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Entergy Corporation will post 3.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Entergy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.90%. Entergy's dividend 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.