Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC Raises Holdings in Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR)

Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) by 66.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,042,159 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,418,528 shares during the quarter. Entergy makes up 2.9% of Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC’s holdings in Entergy were worth $837,216,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Fortis Group Advisors LLC boosted its position in Entergy by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC now owns 344 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. NBT Bank N A NY lifted its stake in shares of Entergy by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. NBT Bank N A NY now owns 340 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the period. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Entergy during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Duncker Streett & Co. Inc. grew its stake in Entergy by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. Duncker Streett & Co. Inc. now owns 358 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the period. Finally, Sandy Spring Bank raised its holdings in Entergy by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 358 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ETR has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Entergy from $86.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Entergy from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Scotiabank decreased their target price on shares of Entergy from $165.00 to $82.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Entergy from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Entergy from $87.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.75.

Entergy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ETR opened at $84.38 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $83.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $75.86. Entergy Corporation has a 52-week low of $50.19 and a 52-week high of $88.38. The company has a market cap of $36.35 billion, a PE ratio of 34.65, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 company posted $0.26 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Entergy Corporation will post 3.88 EPS for the current year.

Entergy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Entergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 98.77%.

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.