FirstEnergy Corporation $FE Stock: Howard Capital Management LLC Grows Holdings

Howard Capital Management LLC increased its position in FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE) by 244.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 139,581 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 99,072 shares during the quarter. Howard Capital Management LLC’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $6,048,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Simplicity Wealth LLC grew its position in FirstEnergy by 3.4% during the first quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 6,839 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $346,000 after acquiring an additional 223 shares during the period. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. raised its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 44.4% in the 1st quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 754 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 232 shares during the period. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC now owns 25,572 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,216,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares during the period. CX Institutional lifted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 7,776 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $370,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 16.7% in the 3rd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,939 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $84,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on FE. Wall Street Zen raised shares of FirstEnergy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 19th. New Street Research set a $47.00 price target on shares of FirstEnergy in a report on Tuesday. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $54.00 to $49.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 12th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $49.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 18th. Finally, Mizuho set a $47.00 price objective on shares of FirstEnergy in a research report on Monday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $51.27.

FirstEnergy Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of FE stock traded up $0.69 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $46.24. The company had a trading volume of 4,470,025 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,526,471. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.88, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.54. FirstEnergy Corporation has a twelve month low of $42.67 and a twelve month high of $52.34. The company has a market capitalization of $26.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.43. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $45.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.09.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.50. The business had revenue of $3.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.51 billion. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 10.51% and a net margin of 6.86%. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.52 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that FirstEnergy Corporation will post 2.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.4650 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 6th. This represents a $1.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 98.94%.

FirstEnergy Company Profile

FirstEnergy Corp. is an electric utility holding company focused primarily on regulated electricity transmission and distribution. Through its operating companies, the company delivers electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers and maintains the infrastructure needed to support reliable service.

FirstEnergy’s utility subsidiaries include Ohio Edison, The Illuminating Company and Toledo Edison in Ohio; Met-Ed, Penelec, Penn Power and West Penn Power in Pennsylvania; Jersey Central Power & Light in New Jersey; and Mon Power and Potomac Edison in West Virginia and Maryland.