Hsbc Holdings PLC Increases Position in Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR)

Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its stake in shares of Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) by 91.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 866,769 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 414,549 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned about 0.20% of Entergy worth $65,705,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Entergy by 101.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,133,646 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,952,773,000 after acquiring an additional 26,312,267 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in Entergy by 90.7% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 12,612,407 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $956,273,000 after purchasing an additional 5,998,760 shares in the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC grew its holdings in Entergy by 66.7% in the fourth quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 11,042,159 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $837,216,000 after purchasing an additional 4,418,528 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Entergy by 106.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,236,816 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $774,103,000 after purchasing an additional 5,271,559 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Entergy by 76.3% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 10,079,631 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $764,238,000 after buying an additional 4,360,772 shares in the last quarter. 88.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Entergy Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of ETR stock opened at $85.03 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $83.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $78.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.59. Entergy Corporation has a 1-year low of $52.07 and a 1-year high of $88.38. The firm has a market cap of $36.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.92, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.56.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.24 billion. Entergy had a net margin of 8.90% and a return on equity of 10.68%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.26 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Entergy Corporation will post 3.88 EPS for the current year.

Entergy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 2nd. Entergy’s payout ratio is currently 98.77%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ETR has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Entergy in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Entergy from $85.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Entergy from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. StockNews.com upgraded Entergy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, December 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Entergy from $87.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Entergy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $85.25.

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.