5,207 Shares in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Purchased by Sterling Investment Counsel LLC

Sterling Investment Counsel LLC purchased a new position in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 5,207 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $231,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in FirstEnergy by 1,150.9% in the first quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 663 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 610 shares in the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 1,138.9% during the second quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 669 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 615 shares during the last quarter. Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy during the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Western Pacific Wealth Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy during the first quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 89.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FE has been the topic of several recent research reports. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.00.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

Shares of FE stock traded up $0.08 on Wednesday, hitting $43.92. 497,748 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,915,026. The firm has a market cap of $25.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.20, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.50. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $40.84. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 52 week low of $34.91 and a 52 week high of $44.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.43.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.56. The company had revenue of $3.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.47 billion. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.61% and a return on equity of 12.12%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.47 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be paid a $0.425 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.87%. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is currently 120.57%.

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.