Insider Selling: FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) CFO Sells 12,000 Shares of Stock

FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) CFO Jon Taylor K. sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.03, for a total value of $516,360.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 99,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,299,514.57. This represents a 10.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

FE stock opened at $42.54 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.56. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $40.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $40.67. FirstEnergy Corp. has a one year low of $37.58 and a one year high of $44.97. The company has a market capitalization of $24.55 billion, a PE ratio of 27.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.42.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $3.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.68 billion. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.64% and a return on equity of 11.38%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.55 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.445 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 7th. This is a positive change from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.18%. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 94.68%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America upgraded shares of FirstEnergy from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $42.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Guggenheim raised their target price on FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 7th. Mizuho set a $43.00 price target on FirstEnergy in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of FirstEnergy in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, FirstEnergy presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.00.

Institutional Trading of FirstEnergy

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 69.3% during the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 623 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of FirstEnergy in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, TruNorth Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 226.9% in the 1st quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 706 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 490 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

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.