Brookstone Capital Management Sells 486 Shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Brookstone Capital Management lessened its stake in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 6.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 7,224 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 486 shares during the quarter. Brookstone Capital Management’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $287,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy during the third quarter worth $26,000. True Wealth Design LLC grew its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 4,571.4% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 654 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 640 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy during the second quarter worth $32,000. Quarry LP grew its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 59.1% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 861 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 48.4% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 997 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 325 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE FE opened at $39.92 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $40.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.73. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 1-year low of $35.41 and a 1-year high of $44.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.05). FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 11.38% and a net margin of 6.64%. The business had revenue of $3.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.96 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.88 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a $0.425 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.26%. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 109.68%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of FirstEnergy in a research note on Monday, October 14th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $46.00 price objective on the stock. Scotiabank raised shares of FirstEnergy from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.27.

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.