Optivise Advisory Services LLC Purchases 2,274 Shares of Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR)

Optivise Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) by 100.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,548 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,274 shares during the period. Optivise Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Entergy were worth $345,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of Entergy during the 3rd quarter valued at about $175,000. Synovus Financial Corp grew its position in Entergy by 78.3% during the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 4,269 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $562,000 after acquiring an additional 1,875 shares during the last quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Entergy by 181.5% during the third quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 14,310 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,884,000 after acquiring an additional 9,227 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Entergy by 53.0% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,718,859 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $754,318,000 after purchasing an additional 1,981,611 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DGS Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Entergy by 17.9% during the 3rd quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 4,141 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $545,000 after acquiring an additional 628 shares during the period. 88.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Entergy Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE:ETR opened at $83.11 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.13, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.56. 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 one year low of $51.75 and a one year high of $88.38. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $83.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $77.94.

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

Entergy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 2nd. Entergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 98.77%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on ETR shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Entergy from $87.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on Entergy from $165.00 to $82.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group upped their target price on Entergy from $86.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Entergy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, December 29th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of Entergy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $86.50 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Six investment 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.