Advisors Preferred LLC Acquires Shares of 80,266 Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR)

Advisors Preferred LLC acquired a new stake in Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 80,266 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $6,052,000. Entergy makes up 1.0% of Advisors Preferred LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Apollon Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Entergy by 183.3% in the fourth quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,162 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $467,000 after buying an additional 3,987 shares in the last quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Entergy by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,790 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $287,000 after buying an additional 1,895 shares during the period. Conning Inc. bought a new position in shares of Entergy during the fourth quarter worth about $219,000. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC raised its position in Entergy by 102.9% in the 4th quarter. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC now owns 14,727 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,117,000 after buying an additional 7,468 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Platform Technology Partners boosted its position in Entergy by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. Platform Technology Partners now owns 4,068 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $308,000 after acquiring an additional 2,034 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Entergy

In other Entergy news, insider Deanna D. Rodriguez sold 6,088 shares of Entergy stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.94, for a total transaction of $450,146.72. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,952 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $292,210.88. The trade was a 60.64 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Haley Fisackerly sold 8,268 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.52, for a total transaction of $616,090.02. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 4,032 shares in the company, valued at $300,444.48. The trade was a 67.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Entergy from $83.00 to $79.50 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Scotiabank lowered their target price on shares of Entergy from $165.00 to $82.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Entergy from $68.50 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. KeyCorp cut Entergy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Entergy from $68.50 to $76.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $79.81.

Entergy Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of Entergy stock opened at $82.37 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $77.59 and its 200 day moving average is $69.46. Entergy Corporation has a one year low of $48.08 and a one year high of $84.26. The firm has a market cap of $35.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.07, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.59.

Entergy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.91%. Entergy’s payout ratio is currently 58.47%.

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.