Meridian Wealth Management LLC Takes $4.38 Million Position in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Meridian Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 98,715 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,378,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 1,138.9% in the 2nd quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 669 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 615 shares during the last quarter. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy in the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy in the 2nd quarter worth $32,000. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy in the 1st quarter worth $36,000. Finally, West Oak Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy in the 2nd quarter worth $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

FirstEnergy Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE:FE opened at $42.17 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 12-month low of $35.41 and a 12-month high of $44.97. The firm has a market cap of $24.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.18, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.51. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $42.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.40.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.05). FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.64% and a return on equity of 11.38%. The business had revenue of $3.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.96 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.88 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.69 EPS for the current year.

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th will be paid a $0.425 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.03%. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 109.68%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded FirstEnergy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. KeyCorp raised their target price on FirstEnergy from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Scotiabank raised their target price on FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, FirstEnergy presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.00.

FirstEnergy 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.