FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Shares Sold by Sentry Investment Management LLC

Sentry Investment Management LLC cut its stake in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 17.0% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 2,220 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 455 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $85,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Sachetta LLC increased its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 36.0% during the 2nd quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 929 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 6.2% during the 1st 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 last quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 7,973 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $308,000 after purchasing an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust increased its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 9,736 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $376,000 after purchasing an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 44,441 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,701,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. 89.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on FE. Bank of America raised their price objective on FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Barclays lifted 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. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price 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, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on FirstEnergy from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $43.50.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

Shares of FE opened at $44.47 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $39.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.61 billion, a PE ratio of 25.56, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.50. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 1 year low of $32.18 and a 1 year high of $44.97.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.56. The business 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 quarter last year, the business posted $0.47 EPS. On average, analysts predict that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 7th were paid a $0.425 dividend. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.82%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 7th. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is presently 97.70%.

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.