abrdn plc Acquires 51,776 Shares of Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR)

abrdn plc raised its position in Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR) by 84.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 113,251 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 51,776 shares during the period. abrdn plc owned about 0.05% of Entergy worth $11,460,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Entergy by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,038,725 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,408,582,000 after buying an additional 104,803 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in 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 buying an additional 1,787,977 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in Entergy by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,506,843 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $416,883,000 after buying an additional 48,047 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its position in Entergy by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,904,933 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $293,950,000 after buying an additional 258,806 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Entergy by 16.4% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,506,022 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $231,807,000 after buying an additional 352,847 shares during the last quarter. 88.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ETR. Barclays cut their price target on Entergy from $108.00 to $107.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 15th. KeyCorp increased their price target on Entergy from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Entergy from $110.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $117.00 price target on shares of Entergy in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Scotiabank cut their price target on Entergy from $111.00 to $104.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $109.45.

Entergy Stock Performance

Shares of Entergy stock opened at $107.53 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $103.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $100.57. Entergy Co. has a 12 month low of $87.10 and a 12 month high of $108.97. The company has a market capitalization of $22.93 billion, a PE ratio of 10.79, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The utilities provider reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by ($0.36). The firm had revenue of $31.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.16 billion. Entergy had a net margin of 17.75% and a return on equity of 10.20%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.14 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Entergy Co. will post 7.22 EPS for the current year.

Entergy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 2nd will be issued a $1.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 1st. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.20%. Entergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.34%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Deanna D. Rodriguez sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.23, for a total value of $151,845.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,442 shares in the company, valued at $348,433.66. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Marcus V. Brown sold 8,500 shares of Entergy stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.84, for a total value of $874,140.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 9,911 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,019,247.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Deanna D. Rodriguez sold 1,500 shares of Entergy stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.23, for a total value of $151,845.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,442 shares in the company, valued at approximately $348,433.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,000 shares of company stock worth $1,226,685 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

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.