Van ECK Associates Corp Lowers Stock Position in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Van ECK Associates Corp lessened its holdings in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 22.6% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 165,413 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 48,251 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $7,323,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FE. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lifted its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 1,138.9% during 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 during the period. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, West Oak Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

Shares of FE stock opened at $41.23 on Friday. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 12 month low of $34.92 and a 12 month high of $44.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.51. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $43.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.19.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.05). FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 11.38% and a net margin of 6.64%. The firm had revenue of $3.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.96 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.88 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be issued a $0.425 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.12%. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 109.68%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FE has been the subject of a number of research reports. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of FirstEnergy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on FirstEnergy from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, FirstEnergy has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.