Retirement Systems of Alabama Decreases Stock Holdings in Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR)

Retirement Systems of Alabama reduced its stake in shares of Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 343,607 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,204 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned approximately 0.16% of Entergy worth $34,770,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wealth Alliance boosted its stake in shares of Entergy by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 8,201 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $830,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of Entergy by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC now owns 5,778 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $585,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Entergy by 5.1% in the third quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 2,353 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $218,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. boosted its stake in shares of Entergy by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 6,657 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $674,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Entergy by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,945 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $804,000 after buying an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. 88.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Entergy Stock Performance

NYSE ETR opened at $106.50 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $22.71 billion, a PE ratio of 10.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.71. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $103.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $100.76. Entergy Co. has a 1-year low of $87.10 and a 1-year high of $108.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.45.

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

Entergy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 2nd will be issued a $1.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 1st. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.24%. Entergy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ETR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Scotiabank lowered their price target on Entergy from $111.00 to $104.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $117.00 price target on shares of Entergy in a research report on Monday, February 26th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Entergy from $110.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. KeyCorp increased their price target on Entergy from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on Entergy from $108.00 to $107.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $109.45.

Insider Activity at Entergy

In related news, EVP Marcus V. Brown sold 8,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.84, for a total value of $874,140.00. Following the completion of 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Marcus V. Brown sold 8,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.84, for a total value of $874,140.00. Following the completion of 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kimberly Cook-Nelson sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.35, for a total value of $200,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,037 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,609,312.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 12,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,226,685. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.