FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Shares Purchased by Sowell Financial Services LLC

Sowell Financial Services LLC boosted its stake in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 7.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 57,267 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,166 shares during the period. Sowell Financial Services LLC’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $2,278,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Amundi boosted its position in FirstEnergy by 103.8% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,843,964 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $73,334,000 after buying an additional 939,240 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in FirstEnergy in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,069,000. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC purchased a new position in FirstEnergy in the 4th quarter valued at about $12,198,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in FirstEnergy by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 9,318,905 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $371,911,000 after buying an additional 220,433 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 7.9% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,346,263 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $104,057,000 after purchasing an additional 171,955 shares during the last quarter. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

NYSE FE opened at $38.54 on Monday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $22.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.48. The company’s fifty day moving average is $39.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.60. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 52-week low of $36.81 and a 52-week high of $44.97.

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

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $0.425 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.41%. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio is 100.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FE has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Guggenheim reduced their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered shares of FirstEnergy from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.33.

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.