Mendel Money Management Raises Stock Holdings in Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR)

Mendel Money Management lifted its stake in shares of Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) by 99.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,644 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,812 shares during the quarter. Mendel Money Management’s holdings in Entergy were worth $731,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Acropolis Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Entergy by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC now owns 8,836 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,163,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Entergy by 0.9% in the third quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 8,087 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,065,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its position in shares of Entergy by 1.3% during the third quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 7,233 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $952,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Hall Laurie J Trustee raised its position in shares of Entergy by 50.0% during the fourth quarter. Hall Laurie J Trustee now owns 450 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Entergy by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 29,336 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,224,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. 88.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target 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. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Entergy from $79.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. KeyCorp cut shares of Entergy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Entergy from $85.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Entergy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $86.50 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.75.

Entergy Stock Performance

NYSE ETR opened at $82.92 on Wednesday. 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 $35.72 billion, a PE ratio of 34.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.68. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $83.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $75.47.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.66 earnings per share (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 analyst estimates of $3.24 billion. Entergy had a net margin of 8.90% and a return on equity of 10.68%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.26 earnings per share. As a group, equities research 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Entergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.