Rench Wealth Management Inc. Raises Stake in Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR)

Rench Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR - Free Report) by 94.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 75,603 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 36,812 shares during the quarter. Entergy comprises about 2.0% of Rench Wealth Management Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 19th largest position. Rench Wealth Management Inc.'s holdings in Entergy were worth $5,732,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ETR. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Entergy by 101.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,133,646 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,952,773,000 after purchasing an additional 26,312,267 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Entergy by 90.7% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 12,612,407 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $956,273,000 after purchasing an additional 5,998,760 shares during the period. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC raised its position in shares of Entergy by 66.7% in the fourth quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 11,042,159 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $837,216,000 after buying an additional 4,418,528 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Entergy by 106.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,236,816 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $774,103,000 after acquiring an additional 5,271,559 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Entergy by 76.3% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 10,079,631 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $764,238,000 after purchasing an additional 4,360,772 shares in the last quarter. 88.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Entergy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, December 29th. Barclays increased their target price on Entergy from $79.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Entergy from $86.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Entergy from $87.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Entergy from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $85.25.

Entergy Stock Up 1.1 %

ETR stock traded up $0.87 during trading on Friday, hitting $83.11. 3,228,172 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,692,924. The stock has a market cap of $35.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The firm's 50 day moving average is $83.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $77.66. Entergy Corporation has a 1 year low of $51.17 and a 1 year high of $88.38.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.03. Entergy had a return on equity of 10.68% and a net margin of 8.90%. The business had revenue of $2.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.26 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Entergy Corporation will post 3.88 EPS for the current year.

Entergy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors 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 yield of 2.89%. Entergy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.