J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG Invests $667,000 in FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE)

Key Points

• J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG has acquired 16,500 shares of FirstEnergy Corporation, valued at approximately $667,000, as disclosed in their recent SEC filing.
• FirstEnergy announced a quarterly dividend of $0.445 per share, providing an annualized yield of 4.1%, with the payment set for September 1st, and a ex-dividend date on August 7th.
• Recent analyst ratings suggest a consensus rating of "Hold" for FirstEnergy, with a price target averaging around $46.08, following modifications from multiple investment firms.

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG acquired a new position in FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 16,500 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $667,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in FirstEnergy by 69.3% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 623 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in FirstEnergy in the first quarter worth $27,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in FirstEnergy by 226.9% in the first quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 706 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares in the last quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new position in FirstEnergy in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Finally, MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new position in FirstEnergy in the first quarter worth $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.41% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America raised FirstEnergy from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $42.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Wells Fargo & Company upped 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 reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $46.00 price target (down previously from $47.00) on shares of FirstEnergy in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, FirstEnergy has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $46.08.

FirstEnergy Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of FE traded down $0.33 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $43.51. 4,382,296 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,060,127. FirstEnergy Corporation has a 1-year low of $37.58 and a 1-year high of $44.97. The business has a fifty day moving average of $40.75 and a 200-day moving average of $40.70. The company has a current ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.12 billion, a PE ratio of 19.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.48.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.52 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $3.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.45 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.56 earnings per share. Analysts expect that FirstEnergy Corporation will post 2.66 EPS for the current year.

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. FirstEnergy's dividend payout ratio is presently 78.76%.

Insider Activity

In other FirstEnergy news, CAO Jason Lisowski sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.97, for a total value of $503,640.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 183 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,680.51. This represents a 98.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Jon Taylor K. sold 12,000 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 99,919 shares in the company, valued at $4,299,514.57. The trade was a 10.72% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.17% 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.