Wakefield Asset Management LLLP Takes Position in Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR)

Wakefield Asset Management LLLP acquired a new stake in shares of Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 2,894 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $247,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ETR. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in Entergy by 142.8% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 17,594,747 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,334,034,000 after purchasing an additional 10,347,926 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in Entergy by 71.4% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 12,884,421 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $976,895,000 after acquiring an additional 5,368,396 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in Entergy by 90.7% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 12,612,407 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $956,273,000 after acquiring an additional 5,998,760 shares during the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Entergy by 66.7% in the 4th quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 11,042,159 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $837,216,000 after purchasing an additional 4,418,528 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Entergy by 106.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,236,816 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $774,103,000 after purchasing an additional 5,271,559 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. KeyCorp lifted their target price on Entergy from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Raymond James Financial began coverage on shares of Entergy in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Entergy from $82.00 to $81.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Entergy from $91.00 to $87.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Entergy from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.46.

Entergy Stock Performance

Shares of Entergy stock opened at $88.08 on Thursday. Entergy Corporation has a 52 week low of $55.21 and a 52 week high of $89.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $82.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $82.59. The company has a market capitalization of $37.94 billion, a PE ratio of 28.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.59.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.22. Entergy had a return on equity of 11.43% and a net margin of 11.26%. The firm had revenue of $3.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.13 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.54 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Entergy Corporation will post 3.88 earnings per share for the current year.

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.