NBC Securities Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

NBC Securities Inc. increased its holdings in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 296,700.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,968 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,967 shares during the quarter. NBC Securities Inc.’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $119,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in FirstEnergy by 69.3% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 623 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in FirstEnergy in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new stake in FirstEnergy in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. WASHINGTON TRUST Co lifted its stake in FirstEnergy by 293.0% in the fourth quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 786 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 586 shares during the period. Finally, Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new position in FirstEnergy during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Jason Lisowski sold 12,000 shares of FirstEnergy stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.97, for a total value of $503,640.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 183 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,680.51. This trade represents a 98.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.17% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FE has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Guggenheim raised their price objective on FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Mizuho set a $43.00 price objective on FirstEnergy in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Bank of America raised FirstEnergy from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $42.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of FirstEnergy in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, FirstEnergy presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.00.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

FE opened at $39.79 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $41.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $40.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.46. The firm has a market cap of $22.97 billion, a PE ratio of 25.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.40. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 1 year low of $37.58 and a 1 year high of $44.97.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.07. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 11.38% and a net margin of 6.64%. The firm had revenue of $3.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.55 EPS. FirstEnergy’s quarterly revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 7th were issued a $0.445 dividend. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.47%. This is an increase from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 7th. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 94.68%.

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.