Matrix Trust Co Buys 2,085 Shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Matrix Trust Co raised its stake in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 639.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,411 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,085 shares during the period. Matrix Trust Co’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $96,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new position in FirstEnergy in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 4,571.4% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 654 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 640 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy during the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy during the second quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Quarry LP raised its holdings in FirstEnergy by 59.1% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 861 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

NYSE FE opened at $39.10 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $40.69 and its 200 day moving average is $41.75. FirstEnergy Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $35.41 and a fifty-two week high of $44.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.56. The company has a market capitalization of $22.53 billion, a PE ratio of 25.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.52.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.96 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.88 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.68 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a dividend of $0.425 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.35%. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio is 109.68%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on FE shares. Seaport Res Ptn lowered FirstEnergy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Argus raised FirstEnergy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of FirstEnergy in a report on Monday, October 14th. They set a “hold” rating and a $46.00 price target on the stock. Scotiabank raised shares of FirstEnergy from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $45.00 to $50.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.27.

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.