GAMMA Investing LLC Invests $177,000 in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 4,822 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $177,000.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of FE. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in FirstEnergy in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in FirstEnergy by 327.3% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,034 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 792 shares in the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in FirstEnergy in the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in FirstEnergy in the 3rd quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in FirstEnergy in the 3rd quarter valued at $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

FirstEnergy Stock Down 1.1 %

NYSE:FE opened at $38.13 on Friday. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 1 year low of $32.18 and a 1 year high of $41.15. The company has a current ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.10. The stock has a market cap of $21.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.91 and a beta of 0.48. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $37.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $37.12.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $3.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.36 billion. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 13.21% and a net margin of 8.22%. As a group, equities analysts expect that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.68 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be given a dividend of $0.425 per share. This is a boost from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 6th. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 94.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on FE. Scotiabank decreased their price target on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $40.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. KeyCorp boosted their target price on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Bank of America boosted their target price on FirstEnergy from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on FirstEnergy in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $45.00 target price for the company. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded FirstEnergy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, FirstEnergy presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $39.80.

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.