Cardinal Capital Management Inc. Buys Shares of 128,830 Entergy Corporation $ETR

Cardinal Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 128,830 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $12,006,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Entergy by 3.0% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 56,459,668 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,692,928,000 after purchasing an additional 1,630,674 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Entergy by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 22,920,881 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,905,184,000 after acquiring an additional 981,750 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in Entergy by 3.6% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 13,652,982 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,134,850,000 after purchasing an additional 479,093 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Entergy by 4.7% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,242,611 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $930,541,000 after buying an additional 505,344 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners grew its position in shares of Entergy by 114.9% in the 2nd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 6,940,628 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $578,531,000 after buying an additional 3,710,814 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Ralph Lewis Ropp purchased 1,000 shares of Entergy stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $96.69 per share, for a total transaction of $96,690.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 1,050 shares in the company, valued at $101,524.50. The trade was a 2,000.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Anastasia Minor sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.39, for a total value of $481,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 10,122 shares in the company, valued at approximately $975,659.58. This represents a 33.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 10,179 shares of company stock valued at $981,707 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Entergy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ETR opened at $93.77 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. Entergy Corporation has a twelve month low of $73.15 and a twelve month high of $98.58. The company’s 50 day moving average is $95.41 and its 200 day moving average is $89.84. The company has a market cap of $41.88 billion, a PE ratio of 23.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.62.

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

Entergy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 13th were paid a $0.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 13th. This is a positive change from Entergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Entergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.21%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ETR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Entergy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Barclays set a $100.00 target price on Entergy and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Citigroup raised their price target on Entergy from $91.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Entergy from $98.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Entergy from $113.00 to $108.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $102.53.

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.