Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Buys 528 Shares of Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR)

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR) by 21.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,971 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 528 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Entergy were worth $391,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Entergy by 55.4% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 14,877 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,571,000 after purchasing an additional 5,303 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Entergy by 145.2% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 24,136 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,551,000 after acquiring an additional 14,293 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Entergy by 17.5% during the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 41,605 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,397,000 after buying an additional 6,197 shares during the last quarter. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Entergy by 11.4% in the 3rd quarter. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd now owns 97,218 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,795,000 after purchasing an additional 9,986 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its stake in Entergy by 19.3% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 28,498 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,049,000 after purchasing an additional 4,616 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ETR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group lifted their price target on Entergy from $143.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Entergy from $137.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Entergy from $143.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Entergy from $119.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their price target on Entergy from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $150.42.

Entergy Stock Performance

Shares of ETR stock opened at $149.83 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $136.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $120.78. Entergy Co. has a 12 month low of $96.15 and a 12 month high of $156.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.13 billion, a PE ratio of 18.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.71.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $2.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.08. Entergy had a net margin of 14.83% and a return on equity of 9.53%. The company had revenue of $3.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.46 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.27 EPS. Analysts forecast that Entergy Co. will post 7.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Entergy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be issued a $1.20 dividend. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 13th. This is a positive change from Entergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.13. Entergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Eliecer Viamontes sold 5,166 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total transaction of $619,920.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,117 shares in the company, valued at approximately $614,040. The trade was a 50.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Andrew S. Marsh sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.03, for a total transaction of $72,018.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 150,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,092,241.93. The trade was a 0.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 40,472 shares of company stock worth $5,076,328. 0.54% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.