Ascent Group LLC Sells 460 Shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Ascent Group LLC decreased its holdings in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 1.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 43,932 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 460 shares during the quarter. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $1,697,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in FirstEnergy by 317.4% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 38,862 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,425,000 after acquiring an additional 29,552 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in FirstEnergy by 112.5% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 169,546 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,216,000 after purchasing an additional 89,758 shares during the last quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in FirstEnergy by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC now owns 13,091 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $480,000 after purchasing an additional 791 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in FirstEnergy by 327.3% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,034 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 792 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cigna Investments Inc. New purchased a new stake in FirstEnergy in the 4th quarter valued at about $211,000. Institutional investors own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

NYSE FE traded up $0.58 during trading on Monday, hitting $41.52. 3,110,944 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,955,675. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.86, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.49. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 12-month low of $32.18 and a 12-month high of $41.59. The business has a 50 day moving average of $39.08 and a 200-day moving average of $38.28.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.36 billion. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 8.22% and a return on equity of 12.45%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 7th will be given a dividend of $0.425 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 7th. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.09%. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 97.70%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on FE. Mizuho boosted their target price on FirstEnergy from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. Bank of America boosted their price objective on FirstEnergy from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Barclays raised their target price on FirstEnergy from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $40.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $40.55.

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.