Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Entergy Corporation $ETR

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. lowered its holdings in Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) by 24.9% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,059,996 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 351,151 shares during the quarter. Entergy comprises approximately 1.5% of Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Entergy were worth $121,751,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Entergy during the 2nd quarter worth $4,861,376,000. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Entergy by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,356,461 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,251,268,000 after purchasing an additional 1,018,503 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Entergy by 54.9% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 22,694,994 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,097,699,000 after purchasing an additional 8,046,287 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in shares of Entergy by 5.3% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 17,369,775 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,951,668,000 after buying an additional 870,847 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Entergy by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,607,806 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,068,725,000 after buying an additional 126,625 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.07% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Entergy news, insider Haley Fisackerly sold 10,638 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.00, for a total transaction of $1,170,180.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 14,182 shares in the company, valued at $1,560,020. This represents a 42.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Ralph Lewis Ropp acquired 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $106.08 per share, with a total value of $106,080.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 3,423 shares in the company, valued at $363,111.84. This represents a 41.27% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Entergy Trading Down 0.7%

NYSE:ETR opened at $105.77 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $49.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.50. Entergy Corporation has a one year low of $86.40 and a one year high of $118.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 0.91. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $111.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $109.89.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.02. Entergy had a return on equity of 10.53% and a net margin of 13.40%.The firm had revenue of $3.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.05 EPS. Entergy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.250-4.450 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Entergy Corporation will post 4.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Entergy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, August 13th will be issued a $0.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 13th. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. Entergy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.64%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Entergy in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. Weiss Ratings cut Entergy from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Thursday, August 20th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $121.00 price objective (up from $116.00) on shares of Entergy in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Scotiabank reissued a “sector outperform” rating on shares of Entergy in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $122.00 target price on shares of Entergy and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $120.84.

About Entergy

Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) is an integrated energy company headquartered in New Orleans, Louisiana, that generates, transmits and distributes electricity. The company’s operations combine regulated utility services with competitive power production, supplying retail electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers while also participating in wholesale energy markets. Entergy’s generation fleet includes nuclear, natural gas, hydropower and other resources, and it operates a network of transmission and distribution assets to deliver power to end users.

Entergy conducts its regulated utility business through state-based operating subsidiaries that serve customers across parts of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and southeast Texas.