Sanctuary Advisors LLC Increases Position in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 21.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,508 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,682 shares during the quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $1,108,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of FE. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its stake in FirstEnergy by 4,571.4% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 654 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 640 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy during the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Quarry LP lifted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 59.1% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 861 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on FE shares. Barclays upped their price objective on FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank upgraded shares of FirstEnergy from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of FirstEnergy in a research report on Monday, October 14th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $46.00 target price for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, FirstEnergy has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.27.

FirstEnergy Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of FE stock opened at $39.79 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.56. The stock has a market cap of $22.93 billion, a PE ratio of 25.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.51. The business’s fifty day moving average is $41.83 and its 200-day moving average is $41.61. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 1 year low of $35.41 and a 1 year high of $44.97.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last issued its quarterly 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). FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 11.38% and a net margin of 6.64%. The business had revenue of $3.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.96 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.88 earnings per share. FirstEnergy’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a $0.425 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.27%. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 109.68%.

About FirstEnergy

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.