Sandy Spring Bank Grows Holdings in Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR)

Sandy Spring Bank lifted its holdings in Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) by 100.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 358 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 179 shares during the quarter. Sandy Spring Bank’s holdings in Entergy were worth $27,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ETR. Pathstone Holdings LLC grew its position in shares of Entergy by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 16,862 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,219,000 after buying an additional 1,081 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC grew its position in Entergy by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 5,281 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $695,000 after purchasing an additional 485 shares during the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in Entergy during the 3rd quarter valued at about $564,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in Entergy by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 89,901 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $11,832,000 after purchasing an additional 1,025 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC purchased a new stake in Entergy during the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,001,000. 88.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Entergy Stock Down 1.1 %

ETR stock opened at $83.74 on Friday. Entergy Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $50.19 and a fifty-two week high of $88.38. The business’s 50-day moving average is $82.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $75.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.72. The company has a market cap of $36.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.68.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.74 billion during 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 quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.26 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Entergy Corporation will post 3.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Entergy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Entergy’s payout ratio is 98.77%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Entergy from $79.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Entergy from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Entergy from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Entergy from $87.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Entergy from $86.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Entergy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.