Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Grows Stake in Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System raised its position in shares of Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR - Free Report) by 86.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,765 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 10,579 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System's holdings in Entergy were worth $1,726,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in Entergy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $4,393,000. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Entergy by 74.3% in the fourth quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 7,959 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $603,000 after purchasing an additional 3,393 shares in the last quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC purchased a new position in shares of Entergy in the fourth quarter valued at $217,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Entergy by 324.3% during the 4th quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 734 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 561 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Braun Stacey Associates Inc. boosted its stake in Entergy by 88.8% in the 4th quarter. Braun Stacey Associates Inc. now owns 360,502 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $27,333,000 after purchasing an additional 169,511 shares during the period. 88.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group increased 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. 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. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Entergy from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Entergy from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Entergy from $87.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $84.75.

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Entergy Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of ETR stock traded up $1.13 on Wednesday, hitting $84.05. 3,732,454 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,209,941. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.68. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $83.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $75.47. Entergy Corporation has a one year low of $50.19 and a one year high of $88.38. 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 (NYSE:ETR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.24 billion. Entergy had a return on equity of 10.68% and a net margin of 8.90%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.26 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Entergy Corporation will post 3.88 EPS for the current year.

Entergy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.86%. 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.