1,080 Shares in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Bought by Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc.

Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 1,080 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $40,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,167 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $343,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares during the period. MGO One Seven LLC boosted its position in FirstEnergy by 4.7% in the third quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 6,425 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $220,000 after buying an additional 287 shares in the last quarter. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in FirstEnergy by 2.2% during the first quarter. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC now owns 13,241 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $530,000 after buying an additional 287 shares during the last quarter. United Capital Financial Advisers LLC increased its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 2.3% during the second quarter. United Capital Financial Advisers LLC now owns 13,241 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $515,000 after buying an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 3,728 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $137,000 after buying an additional 318 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on FE shares. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on FirstEnergy in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $45.00 price target on the stock. KeyCorp increased their target price on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, StockNews.com cut FirstEnergy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $40.38.

FirstEnergy Stock Up 1.4 %

NYSE FE opened at $38.17 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.10, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.48. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 52 week low of $32.18 and a 52 week high of $41.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.09 and a beta of 0.48. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $37.73 and a 200-day moving average of $37.01.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 9th. The utilities provider reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.02. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 13.52% and a net margin of 8.56%. The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.10 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.50 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.67 EPS for the current year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be issued a $0.425 dividend. This is a positive change from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.45%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 6th. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 90.61%.

FirstEnergy 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.