Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp Reduces Stock Position in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp reduced its stake in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 88,541 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,563 shares during the quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $3,927,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in FE. Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new stake in FirstEnergy in the third quarter worth about $26,000. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 4,571.4% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 654 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 640 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in FirstEnergy in the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. West Oak Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy during the 2nd quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of FirstEnergy in the 2nd quarter valued at $38,000. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

FirstEnergy Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE FE opened at $40.27 on Friday. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 12 month low of $35.41 and a 12 month high of $44.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.98, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.51. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $42.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.61. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.96 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.88 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.68 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th were paid a dividend of $0.425 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.22%. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is 109.68%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on FE. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded FirstEnergy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley reduced 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. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of FirstEnergy in a research report on Monday, October 14th. They set a “hold” rating and a $46.00 price target for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.27.

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.