FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Stock Position Lifted by Blue Trust Inc.

Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 246.6% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,026 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 730 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $40,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC now owns 37,050 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,358,000 after buying an additional 376 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in FirstEnergy by 41.4% in the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 187,964 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,259,000 after acquiring an additional 54,990 shares during the last quarter. Lumbard & Kellner LLC bought a new stake in FirstEnergy in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,418,000. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC increased its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 5.3% during the 1st quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,335,364 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $51,572,000 after purchasing an additional 67,469 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Pacific Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. First Pacific Advisors LP now owns 3,481,258 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $127,623,000 after purchasing an additional 45,350 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on FE shares. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, June 3rd. Barclays upped their price target on FirstEnergy from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on FirstEnergy from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $42.55.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

NYSE:FE opened at $43.20 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.43. FirstEnergy Corp. has a one year low of $32.18 and a one year high of $43.65. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $40.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.00. The stock has a market cap of $24.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.82, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.49.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.56. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.61% and a return on equity of 12.12%. The company had revenue of $3.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.47 EPS. Analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.7 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 7th will be given a $0.425 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 7th. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.94%. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.