Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Acquires New Position in FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 10,951 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $443,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 65,843,901 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,619,270,000 after acquiring an additional 508,570 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,527,440 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $497,009,000 after acquiring an additional 329,049 shares during the last quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP boosted its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 60.2% in the fourth quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 8,340,760 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $331,795,000 after acquiring an additional 3,133,083 shares during the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP lifted its position in FirstEnergy by 33.4% during the fourth quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 4,918,857 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $195,672,000 after buying an additional 1,232,040 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in FirstEnergy by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,606,758 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $183,257,000 after buying an additional 276,241 shares in the last quarter. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at FirstEnergy

In related news, CAO Jason Lisowski sold 12,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 183 shares in the company, 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 is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Jon Taylor K. sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.03, for a total value of $516,360.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 99,919 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,299,514.57. This trade represents a 10.72% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.17% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

FirstEnergy Stock Up 0.6%

FirstEnergy stock opened at $40.78 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a current ratio of 0.42. FirstEnergy Corporation has a one year low of $37.58 and a one year high of $44.97.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $3.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.68 billion. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 7.78% and a return on equity of 11.49%. FirstEnergy's revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.55 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that FirstEnergy Corporation will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FE has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. KeyCorp reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $46.00 target price (down from $47.00) on shares of FirstEnergy in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price 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. Mizuho set a $43.00 target price on shares of FirstEnergy in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Scotiabank reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of FirstEnergy in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $45.92.

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.

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