Greenleaf Trust Acquires 1,344 Shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Greenleaf Trust increased its holdings in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 16.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 9,441 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,344 shares during the quarter. Greenleaf Trust’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $346,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of FirstEnergy in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in FirstEnergy by 327.3% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,034 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 792 shares in the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. bought a new stake in FirstEnergy during the 3rd quarter valued at about $45,000. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in FirstEnergy during the 3rd quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, Bear Mountain Capital Inc. bought a new stake in FirstEnergy during the 4th quarter valued at about $53,000. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE FE opened at $38.12 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.10. The company has a market cap of $21.94 billion, a PE ratio of 21.06 and a beta of 0.48. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $37.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $37.07. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 52-week low of $32.18 and a 52-week high of $41.17.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 9th. The utilities provider reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.10 billion. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 8.56% and a return on equity of 13.52%. The firm’s revenue was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.50 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.66 EPS for the current year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be issued a $0.425 dividend. This is an increase from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 6th. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.46%. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 90.61%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of FirstEnergy in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $45.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com lowered shares of FirstEnergy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $40.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $39.80.

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.