FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Stake Lessened by Sigma Planning Corp

Sigma Planning Corp cut its stake in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 57.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 19,413 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 26,453 shares during the period. Sigma Planning Corp’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $712,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in FirstEnergy by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 30,133 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,105,000 after buying an additional 3,027 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in FirstEnergy by 55.8% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,924 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $144,000 after buying an additional 1,406 shares in the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its holdings in FirstEnergy by 28.4% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 7,065 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $259,000 after buying an additional 1,564 shares in the last quarter. abrdn plc boosted its holdings in FirstEnergy by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 815,031 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,879,000 after buying an additional 16,139 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in FirstEnergy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $40,000. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

FirstEnergy Stock Up 0.5 %

FE stock opened at $38.30 on Thursday. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 12-month low of $32.18 and a 12-month high of $41.17. 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 $22.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.16 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a 50 day moving average of $37.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.08.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last released its earnings results 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. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 8.56% and a return on equity of 13.52%. The company had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.10 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.50 EPS. The company’s revenue was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be given a $0.425 dividend. This is an increase from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 6th. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.44%. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 90.61%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on FE. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of FirstEnergy in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $45.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com cut shares of FirstEnergy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $40.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $39.80.

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.