Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Grows Position in Entergy Corporation $ETR

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its position in shares of Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) by 5.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 87,397 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,646 shares during the quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Entergy were worth $7,264,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in Entergy by 114.6% during the second quarter. Boston Partners now owns 6,931,903 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $577,806,000 after purchasing an additional 3,702,089 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Entergy by 964.8% during the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 3,055,698 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $261,232,000 after buying an additional 2,768,734 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Entergy by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,828,994 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,687,331,000 after buying an additional 2,695,348 shares during the last quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Entergy in the first quarter valued at approximately $194,429,000. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Entergy during the first quarter valued at approximately $123,648,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on ETR. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Entergy from $88.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Entergy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and set a $106.00 price target (up previously from $96.00) on shares of Entergy in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Barclays set a $100.00 price objective on shares of Entergy and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $104.00 target price (up from $96.00) on shares of Entergy in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $102.37.

Entergy Price Performance

Entergy stock opened at $95.39 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.55, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.63. Entergy Corporation has a one year low of $73.15 and a one year high of $98.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $94.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $88.20.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Entergy had a return on equity of 11.53% and a net margin of 14.26%.The business had revenue of $2.37 billion for the quarter. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Entergy Corporation will post 3.88 EPS for the current year.

Entergy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 13th will be given a $0.64 dividend. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. This is an increase from Entergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 13th. Entergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.21%.

Insider Activity at Entergy

In other news, insider Haley Fisackerly sold 5,136 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.50, for a total value of $495,624.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 7,899 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $762,253.50. This represents a 39.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Ralph Lewis Ropp acquired 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $96.69 per share, with a total value of $96,690.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 1,050 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $101,524.50. This trade represents a 2,000.00% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 10,179 shares of company stock valued at $981,707. Corporate insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

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.