Bank of Stockton Trims Position in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Bank of Stockton decreased its position in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 4.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,788 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 347 shares during the quarter. Bank of Stockton’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $345,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of FE. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in FirstEnergy by 1,150.9% during the first quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 663 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 610 shares during the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. boosted its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 1,138.9% during the 2nd quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 669 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 615 shares during the last quarter. Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new position in shares of FirstEnergy in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in FirstEnergy in the second quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Western Pacific Wealth Management LP bought a new stake in FirstEnergy in the first quarter worth $36,000. Institutional investors own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

FirstEnergy Stock Down 0.5 %

FirstEnergy stock traded down $0.21 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $43.88. The stock had a trading volume of 273,144 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,910,087. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 52 week low of $34.91 and a 52 week high of $44.97. The company has a market cap of $25.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.20, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $43.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $40.86.

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

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th will be given a dividend of $0.425 per share. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 120.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on FE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. KeyCorp increased their target price on FirstEnergy from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, FirstEnergy has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.00.

About FirstEnergy

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.