United Asset Strategies Inc. Purchases 95,885 Shares of Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR)

United Asset Strategies Inc. lifted its position in Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR) by 245.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 134,921 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 95,885 shares during the quarter. Entergy comprises approximately 1.5% of United Asset Strategies Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest position. United Asset Strategies Inc. owned approximately 0.06% of Entergy worth $13,653,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ETR. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its position in Entergy by 1.2% during the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 38,239 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,537,000 after purchasing an additional 467 shares during the period. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Entergy by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. now owns 595,644 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $60,273,000 after buying an additional 9,696 shares in the last quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Entergy by 28.9% during the fourth quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 159,395 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $16,129,000 after buying an additional 35,718 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Entergy by 464.4% during the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 12,044 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,114,000 after buying an additional 9,910 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Entergy by 10,063.5% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 236,810 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $239,630,000 after buying an additional 234,480 shares in the last quarter. 88.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ETR shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Entergy from $110.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $117.00 target price on shares of Entergy in a report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on Entergy from $108.00 to $107.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Entergy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $109.78.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Kimberly Cook-Nelson sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.35, for a total transaction of $200,700.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,037 shares in the company, valued at $1,609,312.95. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Deanna D. Rodriguez sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.23, for a total transaction of $151,845.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,442 shares in the company, valued at $348,433.66. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kimberly Cook-Nelson sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.35, for a total value of $200,700.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,037 shares in the company, valued at $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. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Entergy Price Performance

NYSE ETR traded down $1.00 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $101.29. 334,176 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,340,459. The company has a current ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57. The company has a market cap of $21.60 billion, a PE ratio of 9.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.71. Entergy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $87.10 and a fifty-two week high of $109.85. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $102.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $99.90.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The utilities provider reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.52. The firm had revenue of $2.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.27 billion. Entergy had a return on equity of 10.54% and a net margin of 19.41%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.51 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Entergy Co. will post 7.22 EPS for the current year.

Entergy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 2nd will be paid a dividend of $1.13 per share. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 1st. Entergy’s payout ratio is 40.76%.

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.