Meridian Wealth Management LLC Makes New Investment in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Meridian Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 98,715 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,378,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 615 shares in the last quarter. Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy in the second quarter valued at $32,000. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy in the first quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, West Oak Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy in the second quarter valued at $38,000. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on FE. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on FirstEnergy in a research note on Monday, October 14th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $46.00 target price for the company. Bank of America upped their price target on FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Barclays upped their price target on FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their target price on FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, FirstEnergy currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.00.

FirstEnergy Stock Down 0.1 %

FE opened at $42.17 on Friday. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 12 month low of $35.41 and a 12 month high of $44.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.46. The stock has a market cap of $24.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.51. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $42.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.40.

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 net margin of 6.64% and a return on equity of 11.38%. The business had revenue of $3.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.96 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.88 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be given a dividend of $0.425 per share. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 109.68%.

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.