Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Sells 783 Shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. cut its holdings in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 9.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,092 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 783 shares during the period. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $271,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sachetta LLC bought a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in FirstEnergy by 1,150.9% in the 1st quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 663 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 610 shares during the period. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. raised its position in FirstEnergy by 1,138.9% in the 2nd quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 669 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 615 shares during the period. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of FirstEnergy in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Western Pacific Wealth Management LP purchased a new position in shares of FirstEnergy in the first quarter valued at about $36,000. 89.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $43.50.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE FE opened at $44.47 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $42.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $39.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The stock has a market cap of $25.61 billion, a PE ratio of 25.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.50. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 1 year low of $32.18 and a 1 year high of $44.97.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.61% and a return on equity of 12.12%. The firm had revenue of $3.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.47 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 7th were given a dividend of $0.425 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 7th. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.82%. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio is 97.70%.

About FirstEnergy

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.