Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB Buys 19,457 Shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its stake in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 361.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,834 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 19,457 shares during the quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $1,101,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of FE. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in FirstEnergy by 6.4% in the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 78,297 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,996,000 after acquiring an additional 4,730 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 162.1% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 48,990 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,875,000 after purchasing an additional 30,298 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in FirstEnergy by 246.6% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,026 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 730 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its stake in FirstEnergy by 5.0% in the second quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 7,222 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $285,000 after buying an additional 341 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 924.2% in the second quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 1,946 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $74,000 after buying an additional 1,756 shares during the period. 89.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on FE. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered FirstEnergy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on FirstEnergy in a research report on Monday, October 14th. They set a “hold” rating and a $46.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.27.

FirstEnergy Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE FE opened at $40.27 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $23.21 billion, a PE ratio of 25.98, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.51. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 12 month low of $35.41 and a 12 month high of $44.97. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $42.13 and a 200-day moving average of $41.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last announced 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). The firm had revenue of $3.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.96 billion. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.64% and a return on equity of 11.38%. The business’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.88 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were given a dividend of $0.425 per share. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 7th. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 109.68%.

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.