Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC Trims Position in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC reduced its position in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 51.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 10,800 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 11,250 shares during the period. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $430,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of FirstEnergy during the 4th quarter worth about $203,000. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new stake in FirstEnergy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $256,000. Whalen Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in FirstEnergy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $664,000. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in FirstEnergy by 46.8% during the fourth quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,646 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 525 shares during the period. Finally, Dakota Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 28.7% in the 4th quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 7,384 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $294,000 after purchasing an additional 1,646 shares during the last quarter. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Barclays raised their price objective on FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on FirstEnergy in a report on Monday, October 14th. They set a “hold” rating and a $46.00 target price for the company. Wolfe Research lowered shares of FirstEnergy from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of FirstEnergy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.27.

FirstEnergy Trading Down 1.0 %

NYSE FE opened at $39.02 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $40.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.79. The stock has a market cap of $22.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.17, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.52. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 52 week low of $35.41 and a 52 week high of $44.97. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.05). FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.64% and a return on equity of 11.38%. The firm had revenue of $3.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.88 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.425 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.36%. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 109.68%.

About FirstEnergy

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.