Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) Shares Bought by Howard Capital Management Inc.

Howard Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) by 88.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 67,124 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 31,510 shares during the quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Entergy were worth $5,089,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wealthspire Advisors LLC increased its stake in Entergy by 103.2% in the fourth quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 7,006 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $531,000 after purchasing an additional 3,558 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Entergy by 17.9% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,914 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $145,000 after purchasing an additional 291 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc acquired a new position in Entergy in the fourth quarter valued at $257,000. Sigma Planning Corp increased its stake in Entergy by 91.6% in the fourth quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 6,096 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $462,000 after purchasing an additional 2,914 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 44 Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Entergy by 60.5% in the fourth quarter. 44 Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,456 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $869,000 after purchasing an additional 4,319 shares during the last quarter. 88.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Entergy

In other Entergy news, insider Deanna D. Rodriguez sold 6,088 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 3,952 shares in the company, valued at $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 is available through the SEC website. 0.39% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Entergy Price Performance

ETR stock opened at $84.94 on Friday. 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 $49.80 and a 1 year high of $88.38. The firm has a market cap of $36.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.72. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $79.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $71.58.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Entergy had a return on equity of 10.68% and a net margin of 8.90%. The firm had revenue of $2.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.24 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.26 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Entergy Corporation will post 3.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Entergy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. 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 2.83%. Entergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 98.56%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ETR has been the subject of several analyst reports. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Entergy from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Guggenheim upped their target price on Entergy from $72.50 to $82.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Entergy from $79.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. KeyCorp downgraded Entergy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Scotiabank cut their price objective on Entergy from $165.00 to $82.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Six 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $82.14.

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.