Foster & Motley Inc. Purchases 7,082 Shares of Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR)

Foster & Motley Inc. lifted its stake in Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR - Free Report) by 78.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,157 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 7,082 shares during the quarter. Foster & Motley Inc.'s holdings in Entergy were worth $1,225,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Plimoth Trust Co. LLC raised its stake in Entergy by 95.1% during the fourth quarter. Plimoth Trust Co. LLC now owns 11,090 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $841,000 after buying an additional 5,405 shares during the last quarter. Field & Main Bank increased its holdings in shares of Entergy by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. Field & Main Bank now owns 500 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Forsta AP Fonden raised its position in shares of Entergy by 95.0% in the 4th quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 175,500 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $13,306,000 after purchasing an additional 85,500 shares during the last quarter. Patton Fund Management Inc. bought a new position in Entergy in the 4th quarter worth about $6,484,000. Finally, Smith Group Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Entergy during the 4th quarter valued at about $455,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.07% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Entergy

In related news, insider Deanna D. Rodriguez sold 6,088 shares of Entergy stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.94, for a total transaction of $450,146.72. Following the sale, the insider now owns 3,952 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $292,210.88. This trade represents a 60.64 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Eliecer Viamontes sold 400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.50, for a total value of $29,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 8,346 shares of the company's stock, valued at $613,431. The trade was a 4.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 14,756 shares of company stock valued at $1,095,637 over the last 90 days. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Entergy Stock Performance

Shares of Entergy stock traded down $0.01 on Friday, hitting $81.17. 7,475,076 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,123,354. Entergy Corporation has a 1 year low of $48.08 and a 1 year high of $84.26. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $77.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $68.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.81 billion, a PE ratio of 19.77, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.89.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.04. The firm 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 last year, the company earned $1.64 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Entergy Corporation will post 3.59 EPS for the current year.

Entergy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.96%. Entergy's payout ratio is 58.47%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ETR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Entergy from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $58.00 to $75.00 in a report on Monday, November 4th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Entergy from $83.00 to $79.50 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 18th. KeyCorp downgraded Entergy from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com raised Entergy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, December 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Entergy from $68.50 to $85.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Five 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, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $79.81.

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.