Richardson Financial Services Inc. Invests $229,000 in Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR)

Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 2,263 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $229,000.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ETR. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Entergy by 64.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,562,369 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $422,019,000 after acquiring an additional 1,787,977 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Entergy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $127,675,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Entergy by 25.2% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,961,859 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $400,901,000 after purchasing an additional 796,316 shares in the last quarter. ClearBridge Investments Ltd increased its position in shares of Entergy by 29.3% during the 4th quarter. ClearBridge Investments Ltd now owns 3,115,468 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $315,254,000 after purchasing an additional 706,059 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia raised its stake in shares of Entergy by 2,786.9% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 492,613 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,567,000 after purchasing an additional 475,549 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Entergy from $107.00 to $116.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $117.00 target price on shares of Entergy in a report on Monday, February 26th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Entergy from $112.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 20th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Entergy from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Entergy from $94.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Entergy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $114.12.

Insider Activity

In other Entergy news, CAO Reginald T. Jackson sold 9,229 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.71, for a total transaction of $1,003,284.59. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $235,465.86. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CAO Reginald T. Jackson sold 9,229 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.71, for a total transaction of $1,003,284.59. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,166 shares in the company, valued at $235,465.86. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Haley Fisackerly sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.23, for a total transaction of $165,345.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 2,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $273,260.17. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Entergy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ETR traded down $0.08 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $107.02. 1,526,355 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,811,297. Entergy Co. has a 1-year low of $87.10 and a 1-year high of $114.28. The company has a market cap of $22.85 billion, a PE ratio of 10.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.69. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $108.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $103.98.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The utilities provider reported $1.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by ($0.36). Entergy had a net margin of 17.75% and a return on equity of 10.20%. The business had revenue of $31.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.14 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Entergy Co. will post 7.23 EPS for the current year.

Entergy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 2nd were paid a $1.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 1st. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.22%. Entergy’s payout ratio is currently 45.34%.

About Entergy

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.