City State Bank Cuts Stock Position in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

City State Bank reduced its position in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 32.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,060 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 500 shares during the quarter. City State Bank’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $42,000 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 FE. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 1,417.3% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 743,303 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,965,000 after purchasing an additional 694,313 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 9,098,472 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $403,517,000 after purchasing an additional 457,231 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of FirstEnergy in the 2nd quarter worth about $14,933,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 4,445.0% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 219,434 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,732,000 after acquiring an additional 214,606 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 7.6% in the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,725,050 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $104,288,000 after acquiring an additional 193,540 shares during the last quarter. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on FE shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Seaport Res Ptn lowered FirstEnergy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays boosted their target price on FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their target price on FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, FirstEnergy has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.27.

FirstEnergy Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:FE opened at $39.10 on Tuesday. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 52-week low of $35.41 and a 52-week high of $44.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.52. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $40.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.75. 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 announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $3.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.96 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.88 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a $0.425 dividend. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.35%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.