Commerce Bank Sells 1,719 Shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Commerce Bank trimmed its stake in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 4.0% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 41,406 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,719 shares during the quarter. Commerce Bank’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $1,836,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 71.9% in the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 22,399 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $865,000 after purchasing an additional 9,372 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in FirstEnergy by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 9,139 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $353,000 after acquiring an additional 315 shares during the period. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in FirstEnergy during the 1st quarter worth $325,000. Bayesian Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in FirstEnergy by 49.6% during the first quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP now owns 88,400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,414,000 after acquiring an additional 29,300 shares during the period. Finally, Dynasty Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy in the first quarter valued at about $617,000. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on FE. KeyCorp increased their target price on FirstEnergy from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Argus raised FirstEnergy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of FirstEnergy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, FirstEnergy has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $45.91.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

NYSE:FE opened at $41.79 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $42.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.08 billion, a PE ratio of 26.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.51. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 12-month low of $35.41 and a 12-month high of $44.97.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $3.73 billion during 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.88 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be issued a $0.425 dividend. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.07%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is 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.