Whalen Wealth Management Inc. Takes Position in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Whalen Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 16,699 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $664,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in FirstEnergy by 3.4% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 339,439 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,990,000 after acquiring an additional 11,274 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in FirstEnergy by 5.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,896,140 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $72,570,000 after buying an additional 104,253 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its position in FirstEnergy by 55.2% during the second quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 28,120 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,076,000 after buying an additional 10,000 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in FirstEnergy by 28.9% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 577,589 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $22,104,000 after buying an additional 129,444 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Summit Trail Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy in the second quarter valued at approximately $221,000. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

FE stock opened at $39.43 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $22.72 billion, a PE ratio of 25.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $40.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.79. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 12-month low of $35.41 and a 12-month high of $44.97.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.05). FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.64% and a return on equity of 11.38%. The business had revenue of $3.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.96 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.88 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.67 EPS for the current year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a $0.425 dividend. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.31%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 109.68%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FE has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of FirstEnergy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays boosted their price target on FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on FirstEnergy in a research report on Monday, October 14th. They set a “hold” rating and a $46.00 price objective for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.27.

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.