Spinnaker Trust Raises Position in Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR)

Spinnaker Trust grew its holdings in shares of Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) by 100.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,714 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,382 shares during the quarter. Spinnaker Trust’s holdings in Entergy were worth $964,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its stake in shares of Entergy by 21.4% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 986,546 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $129,840,000 after purchasing an additional 174,093 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in shares of Entergy by 40.7% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 18,597 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,448,000 after purchasing an additional 5,381 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Entergy by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 280,262 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,885,000 after purchasing an additional 10,697 shares during the period. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Entergy by 11.4% during the 3rd quarter. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd now owns 97,218 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $12,795,000 after purchasing an additional 9,986 shares during the period. Finally, Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Entergy by 74.3% during the 4th quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 7,959 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $603,000 after purchasing an additional 3,393 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.07% of the company’s stock.

Entergy Stock Performance

NYSE:ETR opened at $82.64 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $78.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $70.38. The stock has a market cap of $35.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.13, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.72. Entergy Corporation has a 1-year low of $48.93 and a 1-year high of $84.46.

Entergy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.90%. Entergy’s payout ratio is currently 58.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Entergy

In other news, insider Deanna D. Rodriguez sold 6,088 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 3,952 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $292,210.88. This trade represents a 60.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ETR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Entergy from $83.00 to $79.50 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 18th. Guggenheim upped their price objective on Entergy from $72.50 to $82.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com upgraded Entergy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, December 29th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Entergy from $72.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Entergy from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $58.00 to $75.00 in a report on Monday, November 4th. Five 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 presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.81.

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.