Sit Investment Associates Inc. Increases Stake in Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR)

Sit Investment Associates Inc. boosted its stake in Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) by 80.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,950 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 870 shares during the period. Sit Investment Associates Inc.’s holdings in Entergy were worth $148,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of ETR. IHT Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Entergy in the 3rd quarter worth about $226,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its stake in Entergy by 19.1% during the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 31,538 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,151,000 after acquiring an additional 5,057 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp grew its holdings in Entergy by 8.2% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 164,211 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $21,612,000 after purchasing an additional 12,383 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Entergy during the third quarter valued at approximately $625,000. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Entergy during the third quarter valued at approximately $958,000. 88.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Entergy Stock Performance

ETR stock opened at $79.17 on Tuesday. 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 Corporation has a 1 year low of $50.19 and a 1 year high of $88.38. The company has a market cap of $34.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.56. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $83.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $76.80.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.24 billion. Entergy had a return on equity of 10.68% and a net margin of 8.90%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.26 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Entergy Corporation will post 3.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Entergy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd will be given a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.03%. Entergy’s payout ratio is presently 98.77%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on ETR shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Entergy from $79.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. StockNews.com raised Entergy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, December 29th. Scotiabank cut their price objective on shares of Entergy from $165.00 to $82.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group raised 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Entergy from $87.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.75.

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.