FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Shares Purchased by UMB Bank n.a.

UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 48.4% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 997 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 325 shares during the quarter. UMB Bank n.a.’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $44,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in FirstEnergy by 1,150.9% during the first quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 663 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 610 shares during the period. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its stake in FirstEnergy by 1,138.9% during the second quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 669 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 615 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in FirstEnergy during the second quarter worth approximately $32,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in FirstEnergy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Sachetta LLC grew its stake in FirstEnergy by 36.0% during the second quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 929 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 246 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of FirstEnergy in a research note on Monday. They issued a “hold” rating and a $46.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of FirstEnergy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, September 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.82.

FirstEnergy Trading Up 1.1 %

FirstEnergy stock opened at $43.17 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $43.40 and its 200-day moving average is $40.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.51. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 1 year low of $34.73 and a 1 year high of $44.97. The company has a market cap of $24.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.81, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.50.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period last year, the firm posted $0.47 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.7 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th will be given a $0.425 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.94%. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 97.70%.

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.