Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Buys 9,169 Shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 21.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 51,596 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 9,169 shares during the quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $2,288,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in FirstEnergy by 1,150.9% in the first quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 663 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 610 shares in the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lifted 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 valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 615 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in FirstEnergy in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Sachetta LLC increased its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 36.0% in the 2nd quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 929 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

FirstEnergy Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of FE opened at $43.41 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.79, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.50. FirstEnergy Corp. has a twelve month low of $34.91 and a twelve month high of $44.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $43.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $40.88.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.56. The company had revenue of $3.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.47 billion. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 12.12% and a net margin of 6.61%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.47 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.7 EPS for the current year.

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be given a dividend of $0.425 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.92%. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is 120.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of 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 on the stock. 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 report on Thursday, August 29th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Argus raised shares of FirstEnergy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.00.

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.