Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp Increases Stock Holdings in Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR)

Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp boosted its stake in Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) by 99.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 28,604 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 14,294 shares during the quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp’s holdings in Entergy were worth $2,169,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of ETR. Fortis Group Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Entergy by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC now owns 344 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. NBT Bank N A NY increased its stake in Entergy by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. NBT Bank N A NY now owns 340 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the period. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Entergy in the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Duncker Streett & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in Entergy by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. Duncker Streett & Co. Inc. now owns 358 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sandy Spring Bank boosted its position in Entergy by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 358 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ETR. StockNews.com raised Entergy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, December 29th. Scotiabank dropped 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. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Entergy from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of Entergy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $86.50 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Entergy from $86.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Entergy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.75.

Entergy Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of Entergy stock opened at $79.17 on Tuesday. Entergy Corporation has a twelve month low of $50.19 and a twelve month high of $88.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.51, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.56. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $83.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $76.80.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.66 EPS 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 company had revenue of $2.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.24 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.26 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Entergy Corporation will post 3.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Entergy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.03%. Entergy’s payout ratio is presently 98.77%.

About Entergy

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.