Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC Acquires New Stake in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC bought a new position in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 6,037 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $221,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of FirstEnergy during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 327.3% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,034 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 792 shares during the period. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of FirstEnergy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in FirstEnergy during the third quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in FirstEnergy in the third quarter worth approximately $45,000. Institutional investors own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

NYSE FE opened at $39.12 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $38.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. The stock has a market cap of $22.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.39 and a beta of 0.48. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 12 month low of $32.18 and a 12 month high of $40.42.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 9th. The utilities provider reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.02. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 12.45% and a net margin of 8.22%. The business had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.50 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.68 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.425 per share. This is an increase from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 6th. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.35%. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 94.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FE has been the subject of a number of research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of FirstEnergy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on FirstEnergy in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $45.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America raised their target price on FirstEnergy from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $40.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, FirstEnergy presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $39.80.

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.