Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC cut its position in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 51.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,800 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 11,250 shares during the period. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $430,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of FE. Balanced Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in FirstEnergy by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Balanced Wealth Group LLC now owns 26,741 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,186,000 after acquiring an additional 241 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 1.7% during the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 16,916 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $750,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 59.1% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 861 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its position in FirstEnergy by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 9,514 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $422,000 after buying an additional 324 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group increased its stake in FirstEnergy by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 5,146 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $205,000 after buying an additional 324 shares during the period. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on FE. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of FirstEnergy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Wolfe Research cut FirstEnergy from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of FirstEnergy in a research note on Monday, October 14th. They set a “hold” rating and a $46.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded shares of FirstEnergy from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.27.

FirstEnergy Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE FE opened at $39.02 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $40.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.79. The company has a market capitalization of $22.49 billion, a PE ratio of 25.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.52. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 12-month low of $35.41 and a 12-month high of $44.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.46.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $3.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.96 billion. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.64% and a return on equity of 11.38%. FirstEnergy’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.88 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a dividend of $0.425 per share. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.