Venturi Wealth Management LLC Has $150,000 Holdings in Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR)

Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) by 187.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,981 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,293 shares during the quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Entergy were worth $150,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its holdings in shares of Entergy by 21.4% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 986,546 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $129,840,000 after purchasing an additional 174,093 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of Entergy by 40.7% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 18,597 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,448,000 after purchasing an additional 5,381 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Entergy by 4.0% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 280,262 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,885,000 after purchasing an additional 10,697 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of Entergy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $4,393,000. Finally, Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC increased its stake in Entergy by 74.3% in the fourth quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 7,959 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $603,000 after acquiring an additional 3,393 shares during the last quarter. 88.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ETR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Entergy from $79.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of Entergy from $165.00 to $82.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Bank of America cut shares of Entergy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $69.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Entergy from $69.00 to $82.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Entergy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, December 29th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.14.

Entergy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ETR opened at $84.94 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $36.56 billion, a PE ratio of 34.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.72. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $79.45 and its 200-day moving average is $71.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.72. Entergy Corporation has a 52 week low of $49.80 and a 52 week high of $88.38.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.66 EPS 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 analyst estimates of $3.24 billion. Entergy had a net margin of 8.90% and a return on equity of 10.68%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.26 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Entergy Corporation will post 3.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Entergy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.83%. Entergy’s payout ratio is 98.56%.

Insider Activity at Entergy

In related news, insider Deanna D. Rodriguez sold 6,088 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.94, for a total value of $450,146.72. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 3,952 shares in the company, valued at $292,210.88. The trade was a 60.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.39% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Entergy Company 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.