FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Shares Sold by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,220,130 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 97,391 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $54,113,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in FirstEnergy during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,012,000. Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy during the third quarter valued at $762,000. Apollon Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of FirstEnergy in the 3rd quarter valued at $205,000. Tyler Stone Wealth Management raised its stake in FirstEnergy by 94.4% in the 3rd quarter. Tyler Stone Wealth Management now owns 22,817 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,012,000 after acquiring an additional 11,081 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SpiderRock Advisors LLC lifted its position in FirstEnergy by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. SpiderRock Advisors LLC now owns 48,950 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,171,000 after acquiring an additional 386 shares during the period. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

Shares of FE stock opened at $41.52 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 12-month low of $35.41 and a 12-month high of $44.97. The business’s 50 day moving average is $43.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.30. The company has a market capitalization of $23.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.51.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last released its quarterly 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 net margin of 6.64% and a return on equity of 11.38%. FirstEnergy’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.88 EPS. Analysts expect that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th will be paid 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 109.68%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on FE shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Argus upgraded shares of FirstEnergy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.