FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Shares Acquired by Huntington National Bank

Huntington National Bank boosted its stake in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 4.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,980 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 386 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $397,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FE. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC bought a new position in shares of FirstEnergy during the fourth quarter worth about $12,198,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in FirstEnergy by 41.8% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 47,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,902,000 after buying an additional 14,129 shares during the last quarter. Whalen Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of FirstEnergy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $664,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 16.8% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 186,406 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,267,000 after acquiring an additional 26,874 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc raised its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 6,689.2% during the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 10,727 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $427,000 after acquiring an additional 10,569 shares in the last quarter. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

FirstEnergy Trading Down 4.1 %

Shares of NYSE:FE opened at $39.38 on Friday. FirstEnergy Corp. has a twelve month low of $36.81 and a twelve month high of $44.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58. The firm has a market cap of $22.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a 50 day moving average of $39.97 and a 200-day moving average of $41.02.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by ($0.03). FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.64% and a return on equity of 11.38%. The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.53 billion. As a group, analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be issued a $0.445 dividend. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.52%. This is an increase from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 7th. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 104.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FE has been the subject of several recent research reports. Guggenheim lowered their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Scotiabank decreased their target price on FirstEnergy from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $41.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered FirstEnergy from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, FirstEnergy has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.00.

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.