FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE) Stock Position Raised by PNC Financial Services Group Inc.

Key Points

• PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in FirstEnergy by 15.3%, owning 102,434 shares worth approximately $4.14 million after the purchase.
• Wells Fargo & Company and Evercore ISI both raised their price targets for FirstEnergy, to $44.00 and $47.00 respectively, reflecting positive sentiment from multiple analysts on the stock.
• FirstEnergy announced a quarterly dividend of $0.445 per share, with a yield of 4.1%, to be paid on September 1st to shareholders of record.

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE - Free Report) by 15.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 102,434 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 13,622 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.'s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $4,140,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dakota Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 3.4% during the first quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 7,633 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $309,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in FirstEnergy by 69.3% in 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 stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 22,677 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $917,000 after buying an additional 266 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth increased its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 19,838 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $835,000 after acquiring an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 5.5% in the first quarter. Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,492 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $222,000 after acquiring an additional 287 shares during the last quarter. 89.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FE has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. UBS Group set a $44.00 price objective on FirstEnergy and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, KeyCorp reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $46.00 target price (down from $47.00) on shares of FirstEnergy in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, FirstEnergy currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $46.08.

FirstEnergy Stock Down 0.1%

FirstEnergy stock opened at $43.38 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 0.61 and a quick ratio of 0.51. FirstEnergy Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $44.97. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $40.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $40.76. The firm has a market cap of $25.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.48.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $3.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.45 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.56 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that FirstEnergy Corporation will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at FirstEnergy

In other FirstEnergy news, CAO Jason Lisowski sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.97, for a total value of $503,640.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 183 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,680.51. This represents a 98.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

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.

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