WT Wealth Management Buys New Shares in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

WT Wealth Management bought a new stake in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 5,102 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $203,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 9,318,905 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $371,911,000 after purchasing an additional 220,433 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in FirstEnergy by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,546,001 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $153,081,000 after acquiring an additional 34,151 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in FirstEnergy by 7.9% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,346,263 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $104,057,000 after purchasing an additional 171,955 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank increased its position in FirstEnergy by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,622,544 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $71,960,000 after purchasing an additional 5,500 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its position in FirstEnergy by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,305,644 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $51,939,000 after purchasing an additional 85,514 shares during the period. 89.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

FirstEnergy Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE FE opened at $42.99 on Thursday. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 12-month low of $36.01 and a 12-month high of $44.97. The company has a market cap of $24.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $40.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.79.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.70 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.53 billion. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.64% and a return on equity of 11.38%. Research analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.95%. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is currently 109.68%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on FE. Seaport Res Ptn cut FirstEnergy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Scotiabank raised FirstEnergy from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Wolfe Research lowered FirstEnergy from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their price target on FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.27.

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.