Berger Financial Group Inc Buys Shares of 140,794 FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE)

Key Points

• Berger Financial Group Inc acquired 140,794 shares of FirstEnergy Corporation, valued at approximately $5.69 million, indicating growing institutional investment in the company.
• FirstEnergy recently reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, surpassing consensus estimates and contributing to a market cap of $24.98 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.445, reflecting a 4.1% yield, with a payout ratio of 78.76%.

Berger Financial Group Inc purchased a new position in FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 140,794 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $5,691,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in FE. Dakota Wealth Management grew its position in FirstEnergy by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 7,633 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $309,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew 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 worth $25,000 after buying an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. Equitable Trust Co. boosted its position in FirstEnergy by 1.2% during the first quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 22,677 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $917,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its position in FirstEnergy by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 19,838 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $835,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in FirstEnergy by 5.5% during the first quarter. Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,492 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $222,000 after purchasing an additional 287 shares in the last quarter. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

FE traded up $0.29 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $43.62. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,566,543 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,967,909. The company has a current ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. FirstEnergy Corporation has a twelve month low of $37.58 and a twelve month high of $44.97. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $40.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.48.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.02. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 11.31% and a net margin of 9.31%. The company had revenue of $3.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.45 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.56 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that FirstEnergy Corporation will post 2.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 7th will be paid a $0.445 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 7th. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.1%. FirstEnergy's payout ratio is currently 78.76%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on FE. Scotiabank reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of FirstEnergy in a research report on Friday, April 25th. UBS Group set a $44.00 price target on FirstEnergy and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Mizuho increased their price target on FirstEnergy from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, KeyCorp restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $46.00 price objective (down from $47.00) on shares of FirstEnergy in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, FirstEnergy has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $46.08.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Jason Lisowski sold 12,000 shares of FirstEnergy stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.97, for a total value of $503,640.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 183 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,680.51. The trade was a 98.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.17% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.