Larson Financial Group LLC Trims Holdings in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Larson Financial Group LLC lowered its stake in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 39,092 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,020 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $1,433,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of FirstEnergy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 327.3% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,034 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 792 shares during the period. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of FirstEnergy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of FirstEnergy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $45,000. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of FirstEnergy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $45,000. Institutional investors own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

FirstEnergy Trading Up 0.3 %

FE stock traded up $0.12 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $38.33. The company had a trading volume of 721,512 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,342,658. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.10, a current ratio of 0.48 and a quick ratio of 0.38. The company has a market capitalization of $22.06 billion, a PE ratio of 21.20 and a beta of 0.48. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $37.74 and a 200 day moving average of $37.05. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 12 month low of $32.18 and a 12 month high of $41.17.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The utilities provider reported $0.62 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 business had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.10 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.50 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be given a dividend of $0.425 per share. This is a boost 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%.

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.