7,121 Shares in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Bought by Searle & CO.

Searle & CO. bought a new position in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 7,121 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $273,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in FirstEnergy by 6.2% during the first quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 4,995 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $193,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares during the period. Marcum Wealth LLC grew its position in FirstEnergy by 3.8% in the first quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 7,973 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $308,000 after acquiring an additional 295 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust raised its stake in FirstEnergy by 3.1% during the first quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 9,736 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $376,000 after acquiring an additional 295 shares in the last quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA boosted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 16.2% in the 2nd quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA now owns 2,243 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $87,000 after purchasing an additional 312 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 9,139 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $353,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on FE. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. KeyCorp increased their price target on FirstEnergy from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on FirstEnergy from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, FirstEnergy has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $43.27.

FirstEnergy Trading Up 0.7 %

FirstEnergy stock traded up $0.31 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $43.92. The stock had a trading volume of 2,882,519 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,941,971. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.28 billion, a PE ratio of 25.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.49. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 12 month low of $32.18 and a 12 month high of $44.07.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.56. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.61% and a return on equity of 12.12%. The company had revenue of $3.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.47 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.7 EPS for the current year.

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 7th will be paid a $0.425 dividend. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 7th. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 97.70%.

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.