FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Shares Sold by Stephens Inc. AR

Stephens Inc. AR reduced its stake in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 11.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,681 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,155 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $385,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. boosted its stake in FirstEnergy by 1,138.9% during the 2nd quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 669 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 615 shares during the period. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new position in FirstEnergy during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in FirstEnergy during the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP acquired a new position in FirstEnergy during the 1st quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, West Oak Capital LLC acquired a new position in FirstEnergy during the 2nd quarter valued at about $38,000. 89.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FE has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of FirstEnergy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, FirstEnergy has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.00.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

Shares of FE opened at $41.23 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $43.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.19. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 52 week low of $34.92 and a 52 week high of $44.97. The company has a market capitalization of $23.76 billion, a PE ratio of 26.60, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.56.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $3.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.96 billion. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 11.38% and a net margin of 6.64%. The business’s revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.88 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be paid a $0.425 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.12%. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is 109.68%.

FirstEnergy Company Profile

FirstEnergy Corp., through its subsidiaries, generates, transmits, and distributes electricity in the United States. It operates through Regulated Distribution and Regulated Transmission segments. The company owns and operates coal-fired, nuclear, hydroelectric, wind, and solar power generating facilities.