FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Shares Sold by Venturi Wealth Management LLC

Venturi Wealth Management LLC reduced its holdings in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 24.9% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 997 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 330 shares during the quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $44,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of FE. Balanced Wealth Group LLC grew its position in FirstEnergy by 0.9% during the third quarter. Balanced Wealth Group LLC now owns 26,741 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,186,000 after buying an additional 241 shares during the period. Sachetta LLC increased its stake in FirstEnergy by 36.0% in the 2nd quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 929 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC raised its holdings in FirstEnergy by 4.4% during the second quarter. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC now owns 5,869 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $226,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its position in FirstEnergy by 0.7% during the second quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 44,441 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,701,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA grew its holdings in FirstEnergy by 16.2% in the second quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA now owns 2,243 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $87,000 after purchasing an additional 312 shares during the last quarter. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FE has been the topic of several recent research reports. Argus upgraded shares of FirstEnergy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Scotiabank increased their target price on FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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, Bank of America increased their price objective on FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.00.

FirstEnergy Trading Up 1.7 %

NYSE FE opened at $41.52 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $23.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.51. 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 company has a 50-day moving average of $43.18 and a 200-day moving average of $41.30.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last issued its quarterly 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). The company had revenue of $3.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.96 billion. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 11.38% and a net margin of 6.64%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.88 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th will be issued a $0.425 dividend. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is currently 109.68%.

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.