5,207 Shares in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Purchased by Sterling Investment Counsel LLC

Sterling Investment Counsel LLC purchased a new position in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 5,207 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $231,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in FirstEnergy by 14.3% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 77,928,914 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,009,615,000 after buying an additional 9,773,785 shares in the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd raised its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 63.4% in the 1st quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 1,328,210 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $51,295,000 after purchasing an additional 515,458 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 9,098,472 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $403,517,000 after purchasing an additional 457,231 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy in the 2nd quarter valued at about $14,933,000. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy in the 1st quarter valued at about $12,631,000. 89.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Argus upgraded shares of FirstEnergy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, September 20th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, FirstEnergy presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.00.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

NYSE:FE traded up $0.08 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $43.92. 497,748 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,915,026. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.20, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.50. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 52-week low of $34.91 and a 52-week high of $44.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $43.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $40.84.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.56. The company had revenue of $3.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 firm earned $0.47 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.7 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be given a dividend of $0.425 per share. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 120.57%.

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.