FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Shares Sold by Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp

Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp reduced its position in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 87,032 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,509 shares during the period. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $3,462,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of FE. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC purchased a new position in shares of FirstEnergy during the 4th quarter worth $12,198,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in FirstEnergy by 41.8% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 47,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,902,000 after buying an additional 14,129 shares during the last quarter. Whalen Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in FirstEnergy during the fourth quarter worth about $664,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in FirstEnergy by 16.8% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 186,406 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,267,000 after buying an additional 26,874 shares during the period. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc increased its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 6,689.2% during the fourth quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 10,727 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $427,000 after acquiring an additional 10,569 shares during the last quarter. 89.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

Shares of FE stock opened at $38.75 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $22.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.00, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.41. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $39.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.95. 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 Corp. has a 12 month low of $36.81 and a 12 month high of $44.97.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by ($0.03). FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.64% and a return on equity of 11.38%. The business had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.53 billion. Sell-side analysts predict that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be given a dividend of $0.445 per share. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 7th. This is an increase from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is currently 104.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th. UBS Group raised their price target on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $41.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. Wolfe Research cut FirstEnergy from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, FirstEnergy presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.15.

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.