Wedmont Private Capital Purchases New Position in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Wedmont Private Capital purchased a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 5,343 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $211,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in FE. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in FirstEnergy by 41.1% in the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 15,022 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $551,000 after purchasing an additional 4,376 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 48.3% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 76,653 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,810,000 after acquiring an additional 24,953 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of FirstEnergy during the 4th quarter worth $1,144,000. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. boosted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 9.0% during the 4th quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 116,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,264,000 after acquiring an additional 9,600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Imprint Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of FirstEnergy during the 4th quarter worth $209,000. Institutional investors own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on FE shares. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $40.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $41.55.

FirstEnergy Stock Up 0.2 %

FE opened at $42.29 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.51. FirstEnergy Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $32.18 and a fifty-two week high of $43.65. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $39.69 and its 200 day moving average is $38.69. The stock has a market cap of $24.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.49.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last announced 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. The business had revenue of $3.28 billion for 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 quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.47 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 7th will be paid a $0.425 dividend. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.02%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 7th. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is currently 97.70%.

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.