Dean Investment Associates LLC Purchases 17,200 Shares of Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR)

Dean Investment Associates LLC increased its position in Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) by 54.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 48,837 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,200 shares during the period. Dean Investment Associates LLC’s holdings in Entergy were worth $3,703,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on ETR. UBS Group raised their price objective on Entergy from $86.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Entergy from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Scotiabank decreased their target price on Entergy from $165.00 to $82.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Entergy from $94.00 to $89.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Entergy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $86.50 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.25.

Entergy Price Performance

ETR opened at $82.28 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.44 billion, a PE ratio of 33.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.56. The business’s 50-day moving average is $83.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $77.54. Entergy Corporation has a 1 year low of $50.51 and a 1 year high of $88.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.59.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.24 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.26 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Entergy Corporation will post 3.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Entergy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd will be issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 2nd. Entergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 98.77%.

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.