ClearBridge Investments Ltd Has $411.42 Million Stake in Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR)

ClearBridge Investments Ltd grew its stake in Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) by 89.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,426,267 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,559,817 shares during the quarter. Entergy comprises approximately 10.8% of ClearBridge Investments Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its largest holding. ClearBridge Investments Ltd owned 1.27% of Entergy worth $411,420,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ETR. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Entergy by 101.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,133,646 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,952,773,000 after buying an additional 26,312,267 shares during the period. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC grew its holdings in Entergy by 66.7% during the fourth quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 11,042,159 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $837,216,000 after purchasing an additional 4,418,528 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Entergy by 105.1% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,363,219 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $558,279,000 after purchasing an additional 3,773,492 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Entergy in the fourth quarter worth $259,944,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Entergy by 53.0% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,718,859 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $754,318,000 after purchasing an additional 1,981,611 shares in the last quarter. 88.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on ETR shares. UBS Group raised their price objective on Entergy from $86.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. 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. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of Entergy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $86.50 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Entergy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, December 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Entergy from $85.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Entergy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.75.

Entergy Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of Entergy stock opened at $84.38 on Friday. Entergy Corporation has a 12-month low of $50.19 and a 12-month high of $88.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The business’s 50 day moving average is $83.34 and its 200-day moving average is $75.86. The stock has a market cap of $36.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.68.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.24 billion. Entergy had a net margin of 8.90% and a return on equity of 10.68%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.26 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Entergy Corporation will post 3.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Entergy Announces Dividend

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