Norges Bank Invests $259.94 Million in Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR)

Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 3,428,435 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $259,944,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Blair William & Co. IL raised its holdings in shares of Entergy by 137.1% in the fourth quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 21,297 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,615,000 after buying an additional 12,315 shares during the last quarter. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Entergy by 249.8% in the 4th quarter. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,006 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $526,000 after acquiring an additional 5,003 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P purchased a new stake in Entergy during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $101,000. Delta Asset Management LLC TN lifted its position in Entergy by 87.3% during the 4th quarter. Delta Asset Management LLC TN now owns 1,006 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $76,000 after acquiring an additional 469 shares during the period. Finally, Howe & Rusling Inc. grew its stake in shares of Entergy by 99.8% in the 4th quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. now owns 6,060 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $459,000 after purchasing an additional 3,027 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ETR has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group upped their price target 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 target price on shares of Entergy from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Entergy from $87.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Entergy from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Entergy from $79.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.75.

Entergy Stock Up 0.4 %

ETR opened at $84.38 on Friday. 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 $36.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.65, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.68. Entergy Corporation has a one year low of $50.19 and a one year high of $88.38. The business’s fifty day moving average is $83.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $75.86.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.03. Entergy had a net margin of 8.90% and a return on equity of 10.68%. The business had revenue of $2.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.24 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.26 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Entergy Corporation will post 3.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Entergy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.84%. Entergy’s dividend payout ratio 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.