Amalgamated Bank Has $4.61 Million Holdings in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Amalgamated Bank cut its stake in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 4.0% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 104,038 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 4,283 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $4,614,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of FE. Balanced Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 0.9% in the third quarter. Balanced Wealth Group LLC now owns 26,741 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,186,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Sachetta LLC lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 246 shares during the period. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 4.4% during the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC now owns 5,869 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $226,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted 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 valued at $1,701,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA increased its stake in FirstEnergy by 16.2% in the second quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA now owns 2,243 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $87,000 after acquiring an additional 312 shares during the period. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

Shares of FirstEnergy stock opened at $41.56 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.22. FirstEnergy Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $34.92 and a fifty-two week 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 cap of $23.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.51.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.05). FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.64% and a return on equity of 11.38%. The firm had revenue of $3.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.96 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.88 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.09%. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is presently 109.68%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on FE shares. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Barclays upped their price target on FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on FirstEnergy from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Argus upgraded shares of FirstEnergy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of FirstEnergy in a research report on Monday, October 14th. They set a “hold” rating and a $46.00 target price for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, FirstEnergy presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.00.

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.