Sterling Investment Counsel LLC Purchases 3,044 Shares of Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR)

Sterling Investment Counsel LLC boosted its position in Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) by 100.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 6,088 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,044 shares during the period. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Entergy were worth $462,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ETR. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in Entergy in the second quarter worth approximately $8,681,000. AXA S.A. boosted its holdings in Entergy by 69.9% in the second quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 22,517 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,409,000 after acquiring an additional 9,263 shares in the last quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC bought a new position in Entergy in the second quarter worth approximately $1,637,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in Entergy by 4.2% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 461,175 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $49,346,000 after acquiring an additional 18,422 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning lifted its holdings in shares of Entergy by 11.5% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 28,910 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,093,000 after purchasing an additional 2,992 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ETR. StockNews.com upgraded Entergy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, December 29th. Guggenheim raised their target price on Entergy from $72.50 to $82.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Entergy from $68.50 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho raised their target price on Entergy from $69.00 to $82.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Entergy from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $58.00 to $75.00 in a report on Monday, November 4th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $77.37.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Eliecer Viamontes sold 400 shares of Entergy stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.50, for a total value of $29,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,346 shares in the company, valued at approximately $613,431. The trade was a 4.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Deanna D. Rodriguez sold 6,088 shares of Entergy 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 3,952 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $292,210.88. This trade represents a 60.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 14,756 shares of company stock worth $1,095,637. 0.39% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Entergy Stock Performance

NYSE:ETR opened at $79.43 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $76.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $68.34. Entergy Corporation has a 1 year low of $48.08 and a 1 year high of $84.26. The company has a market capitalization of $34.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.71.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.04. Entergy had a return on equity of 9.53% and a net margin of 14.83%. The business had revenue of $3.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.46 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.64 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Entergy Corporation will post 3.59 earnings per share for the current year.

About Entergy

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.