BNP Paribas Arbitrage SNC Buys 16,505 Shares of Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR)

BNP Paribas Arbitrage SNC lifted its stake in Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR – Get Rating) by 10.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 181,674 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,505 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SNC’s holdings in Entergy were worth $18,282,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Fairfield Bush & CO. acquired a new stake in Entergy during the 1st quarter worth $29,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Entergy by 1.8% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 637,493 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $74,429,000 after acquiring an additional 11,568 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL grew its stake in Entergy by 20.0% in the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 44,607 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,208,000 after acquiring an additional 7,434 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in Entergy by 52.8% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 189,102 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $22,074,000 after acquiring an additional 65,376 shares during the period. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its stake in Entergy by 37.7% in the first quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 288,794 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $33,717,000 after acquiring an additional 79,137 shares during the period. 89.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Deanna D. Rodriguez sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.96, for a total value of $31,188.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 3,269 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $339,845.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Marcus V. Brown sold 12,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.10, for a total transaction of $1,326,250.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $968,586.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Deanna D. Rodriguez sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.96, for a total transaction of $31,188.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,269 shares in the company, valued at $339,845.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 17,092 shares of company stock worth $1,821,838 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ETR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Mizuho decreased their target price on Entergy from $114.00 to $113.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 19th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Entergy from $108.00 to $103.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 22nd. TheStreet cut Entergy from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 16th. Bank of America cut Entergy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $135.00 to $119.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Entergy from $123.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $122.47.

Entergy Price Performance

NYSE:ETR opened at $103.69 on Wednesday. Entergy Co. has a 12-month low of $94.94 and a 12-month high of $126.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.63. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $106.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $109.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 16th. The utilities provider reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.06. Entergy had a return on equity of 10.88% and a net margin of 8.01%. The business had revenue of $3.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.65 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.76 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Entergy Co. will post 6.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Entergy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 10th were paid a $1.07 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 9th. This represents a $4.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.13%. Entergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 79.41%.

Entergy Company Profile

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Entergy Corp. is a holding company, which engages in electric power generation and distribution. It operates through the following segments: Utility and Entergy Wholesale Commodities. The Utility segment includes the generation, transmission, distribution, and sale of electric power and the operations of a natural gas distribution business.