FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Shares Bought by Cwm LLC

Cwm LLC raised its holdings in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 11.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 30,133 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,027 shares during the period. Cwm LLC’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $1,105,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 327.3% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,034 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 792 shares in the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy in the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy in the third quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy in the third quarter valued at about $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $40.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of FirstEnergy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of FirstEnergy in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $45.00 price objective on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $39.80.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

NYSE:FE opened at $38.13 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.10. The company has a market cap of $21.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.91 and a beta of 0.48. FirstEnergy Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $32.18 and a fifty-two week high of $41.15. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $37.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.13.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.36 billion. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 8.22% and a return on equity of 13.21%. Analysts expect that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.68 EPS for the current year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be given a $0.425 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 6th. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.46%. This is a positive change from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 94.25%.

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.