Westpac Banking Corp Trims Stock Holdings in Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR)

Westpac Banking Corp reduced its stake in Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR) by 72.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,027 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 18,214 shares during the period. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in Entergy were worth $684,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Beck Bode LLC grew its holdings in Entergy by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Beck Bode LLC now owns 95,352 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,275,000 after buying an additional 1,888 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Entergy by 18.0% during the second quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 9,673 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $942,000 after purchasing an additional 1,473 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC increased its position in shares of Entergy by 220.7% in the second quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 43,430 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,229,000 after purchasing an additional 29,889 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Entergy by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,184,645 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $115,349,000 after buying an additional 48,007 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Entergy by 129.9% during the 2nd quarter. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,613 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $548,000 after acquiring an additional 3,172 shares during the last quarter. 86.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ETR has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Entergy from $97.00 to $92.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 25th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Entergy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $103.00 to $118.00 in a research report on Monday, November 6th. StockNews.com began coverage on Entergy in a report on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Mizuho lowered their target price on Entergy from $113.00 to $105.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 3rd. Finally, Guggenheim raised their price target on Entergy from $99.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Entergy has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $110.17.

Insider Transactions at Entergy

In related news, EVP Marcus V. Brown sold 13,500 shares of Entergy stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.40, for a total transaction of $1,287,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,251 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $882,545.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Entergy Stock Performance

NYSE:ETR opened at $99.11 on Friday. Entergy Co. has a twelve month low of $87.10 and a twelve month high of $120.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $95.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $97.95. The stock has a market cap of $20.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.67.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 1st. The utilities provider reported $3.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $3.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.22 billion. Entergy had a return on equity of 10.77% and a net margin of 11.56%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.84 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Entergy Co. will post 6.72 EPS for the current year.

Entergy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.13 per share. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.56%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 13th. This is a boost from Entergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.07. Entergy’s payout ratio is 64.94%.

Entergy Company Profile

Entergy Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the production and retail distribution of electricity in the United States. The company operates in two segments, Utility and Entergy Wholesale Commodities. The Utility segment 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.