First Hawaiian Bank Buys 4,212 Shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

First Hawaiian Bank grew its stake in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 25.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 20,784 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,212 shares during the quarter. First Hawaiian Bank’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $827,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new position in shares of FirstEnergy during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 4,571.4% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 654 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 640 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in FirstEnergy in the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in FirstEnergy in the 2nd quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Quarry LP increased its holdings in FirstEnergy by 59.1% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 861 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on FE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Argus raised FirstEnergy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, September 20th. Barclays upped their target price on FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Seaport Res Ptn cut FirstEnergy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Scotiabank raised FirstEnergy from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, FirstEnergy presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.27.

FirstEnergy Stock Down 2.6 %

Shares of FirstEnergy stock opened at $38.75 on Friday. FirstEnergy Corp. has a one year low of $35.41 and a one year high of $44.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.46. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $40.74 and its 200 day moving average is $41.70. The firm has a market cap of $22.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.00, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.52.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $3.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.88 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.68 EPS for the current year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a $0.425 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.39%. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is currently 109.68%.

FirstEnergy 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.