Wealthquest Corp Invests $53.17 Million in FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE)

Key Points

• Wealthquest Corp has invested approximately $53.17 million in FirstEnergy Corporation, acquiring over 1.3 million shares, making it the firm's 12th largest position.
• FirstEnergy reported quarterly earnings of $0.52 per share, exceeding analyst expectations, with a revenue of $3.4 billion for the quarter.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.445 per share, resulting in a 4.26% yield, with a payout ratio of 94.68%.

Wealthquest Corp purchased a new position in FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 1,315,423 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $53,169,000. FirstEnergy accounts for approximately 2.4% of Wealthquest Corp's holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Wealthquest Corp owned about 0.23% of FirstEnergy at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of FE. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,527,440 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $497,009,000 after purchasing an additional 329,049 shares during the period. Soroban Capital Partners LP grew its stake in FirstEnergy by 60.2% in the 4th quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 8,340,760 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $331,795,000 after acquiring an additional 3,133,083 shares during the period. Zimmer Partners LP grew its stake in FirstEnergy by 33.4% in the 4th quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 4,918,857 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $195,672,000 after acquiring an additional 1,232,040 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in FirstEnergy by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,606,758 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $183,257,000 after acquiring an additional 276,241 shares during the period. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in FirstEnergy by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,981,944 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $158,403,000 after acquiring an additional 206,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.41% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on FE shares. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Bank of America raised shares of FirstEnergy from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $42.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. UBS Group set a $44.00 price target on shares of FirstEnergy and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, Scotiabank reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of FirstEnergy in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $46.08.

Insider Buying and Selling at FirstEnergy

In other FirstEnergy news, CFO Jon Taylor K. sold 12,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.03, for a total transaction of $516,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Jason Lisowski sold 12,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.97, for a total transaction of $503,640.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 183 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,680.51. This trade represents a 98.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

FirstEnergy Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of FirstEnergy stock traded up $0.48 on Friday, reaching $43.19. 5,117,832 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,770,879. FirstEnergy Corporation has a 1-year low of $37.58 and a 1-year high of $44.97. The company has a market cap of $24.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 0.61 and a quick ratio of 0.34. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $40.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $40.66.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $3.45 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.56 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that FirstEnergy Corporation will post 2.66 EPS for the current year.

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

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