City State Bank Decreases Stock Holdings in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

City State Bank trimmed its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 32.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,060 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 500 shares during the quarter. City State Bank’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $42,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

FirstEnergy Price Performance

NYSE:FE opened at $39.10 on Tuesday. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 52-week low of $35.41 and a 52-week high of $44.97. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $40.69 and a 200 day moving average of $41.75. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $22.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.52.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last posted 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 return on equity of 11.38% and a net margin of 6.64%. The business had revenue of $3.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.88 earnings per share. FirstEnergy’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The firm 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. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is 109.68%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on FE shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank raised FirstEnergy from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on FirstEnergy in a report on Monday, October 14th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $46.00 price target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently 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.