Aquila Investment Management LLC Takes $355,000 Position in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Aquila Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 8,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $355,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 1,150.9% during the first quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 663 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 610 shares during the period. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lifted its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 1,138.9% in the 2nd quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 669 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 615 shares in the last quarter. Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new position in FirstEnergy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in FirstEnergy during the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Western Pacific Wealth Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy in the first quarter worth $36,000. 89.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

NYSE FE opened at $43.84 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.25 billion, a PE ratio of 31.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.50. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $40.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.51. FirstEnergy Corp. has a twelve month low of $34.73 and a twelve month high of $44.97.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.56. The company had revenue of $3.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.47 billion. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 12.12% and a net margin of 6.61%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.47 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.7 EPS for the current year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.425 per share. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is presently 120.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on FE. Scotiabank increased their price objective on FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Argus upgraded shares of FirstEnergy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.00.

FirstEnergy Company 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.