Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. Grows Holdings in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. raised its position in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 71.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,606 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 669 shares during the period. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc.’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $62,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of FE. Duality Advisers LP purchased a new position in shares of FirstEnergy in the first quarter valued at approximately $203,000. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group boosted its position in FirstEnergy by 419.6% during the first quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 2,468 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $99,000 after acquiring an additional 1,993 shares during the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in FirstEnergy during the 1st quarter valued at about $633,000. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board raised its holdings in FirstEnergy by 20.5% in the 1st quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 111,340 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,460,000 after acquiring an additional 18,936 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 11.7% during the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 96,785 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,877,000 after purchasing an additional 10,117 shares during the last quarter. 82.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

Shares of FirstEnergy stock opened at $36.89 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $37.35 and a 200 day moving average of $38.59. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 12 month low of $34.69 and a 12 month high of $43.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.07, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.49.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $3.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.89 billion. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 3.55% and a return on equity of 12.41%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.53 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 7th were issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 4th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.23%. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 197.47%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com cut FirstEnergy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, August 28th. UBS Group lowered shares of FirstEnergy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $45.00 to $40.00 in a report on Monday, August 7th. Guggenheim decreased their price objective on FirstEnergy from $46.00 to $44.00 in a report on Friday, July 7th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on FirstEnergy from $44.00 to $41.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on FirstEnergy from $46.00 to $43.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $41.40.

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.