New Age Alpha Advisors LLC Sells 9,304 Shares of FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE)

Key Points

• New Age Alpha Advisors LLC has reduced its stake in FirstEnergy Corporation by 6.8%, selling 9,304 shares and holding 128,328 shares valued at approximately $5.19 million.
• FirstEnergy reported earnings of $0.52 EPS for the most recent quarter, exceeding expectations, and has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.445 per share with a yield of 4.1%.
• Analyst ratings for FirstEnergy show a consensus rating of "Hold" with an average target price of $46.08 based on evaluations from several major firms.

New Age Alpha Advisors LLC trimmed its position in FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE - Free Report) by 6.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 128,328 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 9,304 shares during the period. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC's holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $5,187,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blair William & Co. IL boosted its holdings in FirstEnergy by 4.3% in the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 10,645 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $430,000 after acquiring an additional 437 shares in the last quarter. Argent Trust Co boosted its stake in FirstEnergy by 17.6% in the 1st quarter. Argent Trust Co now owns 12,210 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $494,000 after purchasing an additional 1,829 shares in the last quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG purchased a new stake in FirstEnergy during the 1st quarter valued at about $667,000. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. increased its stake in FirstEnergy by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. now owns 31,400 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,269,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in FirstEnergy by 15.3% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 102,434 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $4,140,000 after buying an additional 13,622 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.41% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on FE shares. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. KeyCorp reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $46.00 target price (down from $47.00) on shares of FirstEnergy in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Mizuho lifted their target price on FirstEnergy from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Bank of America upgraded FirstEnergy from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $42.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $46.08.

Insider Transactions at FirstEnergy

In related news, CAO Jason Lisowski sold 12,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.97, for a total transaction of $503,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 183 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,680.51. The trade was a 98.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

Shares of FE traded down $0.06 on Thursday, reaching $43.38. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,257,509 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,148,421. FirstEnergy Corporation has a 12-month low of $37.58 and a 12-month high of $44.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.20, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 0.61 and a quick ratio of 0.51. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $40.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $40.76.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 9.31% and a return on equity of 11.31%. The business had revenue of $3.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.45 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.56 EPS. Research analysts forecast that FirstEnergy Corporation will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

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

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.