FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Stock Position Lifted by Exchange Traded Concepts LLC

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its stake in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 3,815.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,648 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 23,044 shares during the quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $1,049,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 1,150.9% during the 1st quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 663 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 610 shares during the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its position in FirstEnergy by 1,138.9% in the second quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 669 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 615 shares in the last quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new stake in FirstEnergy in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in shares of FirstEnergy during the 2nd quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Western Pacific Wealth Management LP bought a new position in shares of FirstEnergy during the 1st quarter valued at $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on FirstEnergy in a report on Monday. They set a “hold” rating and a $46.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays boosted their target price on FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, FirstEnergy currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $45.82.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

Shares of FirstEnergy stock opened at $43.90 on Thursday. 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 has a market cap of $25.27 billion, a PE ratio of 25.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.50. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $43.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $40.67. FirstEnergy Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $34.73 and a fifty-two week high of $44.97.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.56. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.61% and a return on equity of 12.12%. The business had revenue of $3.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.47 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.47 earnings per share. Analysts expect 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 given a dividend of $0.425 per share. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.87%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.