ST Germain D J Co. Inc. Purchases 615 Shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its position in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 1,138.9% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 669 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 615 shares during the period. ST Germain D J Co. Inc.’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $26,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in FE. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in FirstEnergy by 327.3% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,034 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 792 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 149,703 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,488,000 after buying an additional 1,235 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 2,627.0% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 212,517 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,791,000 after acquiring an additional 204,724 shares in the last quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC increased its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 11.3% in the fourth quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC now owns 54,643 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,003,000 after acquiring an additional 5,552 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fulton Bank N.A. raised its holdings in FirstEnergy by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 10,208 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $374,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

NYSE FE traded up $0.26 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $42.14. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,439,289 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,997,678. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 12 month low of $32.18 and a 12 month high of $43.65. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $39.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.56. The business had revenue of $3.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.47 billion. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 12.12% and a net margin of 6.61%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.47 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.425 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 7th. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.03%. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is 97.70%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on FE. Scotiabank lowered their price target on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $40.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on FirstEnergy from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, FirstEnergy presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $40.92.

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.