FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Shares Sold by Commerce Bank

Commerce Bank decreased its stake in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 41,406 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,719 shares during the period. Commerce Bank’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $1,836,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in FirstEnergy by 71.9% in the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 22,399 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $865,000 after acquiring an additional 9,372 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in FirstEnergy by 3.6% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 9,139 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $353,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares during the last quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in FirstEnergy during the first quarter worth approximately $325,000. Bayesian Capital Management LP grew its position in FirstEnergy by 49.6% in the first quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP now owns 88,400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,414,000 after buying an additional 29,300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dynasty Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of FirstEnergy in the first quarter valued at $617,000. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on FE. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of FirstEnergy in a research report on Monday, October 14th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $46.00 target price on the stock. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of FirstEnergy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, FirstEnergy currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $45.91.

FirstEnergy Trading Down 1.0 %

FirstEnergy stock opened at $41.79 on Friday. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 12 month low of $35.41 and a 12 month high of $44.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58. The stock has a market cap of $24.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.51. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $42.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.44.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $3.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.96 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.88 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be paid a $0.425 dividend. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 109.68%.

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.