Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. Has $629,000 Stock Holdings in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. trimmed its position in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 3.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 17,147 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 679 shares during the quarter. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $629,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC bought a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Clear Street Markets LLC lifted its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 549.0% during the 4th quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC now owns 649 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 549 shares during the last quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Certified Advisory Corp bought a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy during the 1st quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy during the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. 89.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com downgraded FirstEnergy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. KeyCorp increased their target price on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $39.67.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

Shares of FE traded up $0.17 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $38.63. The stock had a trading volume of 449,784 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,501,748. The company’s 50-day moving average is $37.23 and its 200 day moving average is $36.70. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 12-month low of $32.18 and a 12-month high of $41.99. 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 company has a market capitalization of $22.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.25 and a beta of 0.48.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The utilities provider reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.10 billion. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 13.52% and a net margin of 8.56%. FirstEnergy’s quarterly revenue was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.50 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.425 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 6th. This is a boost from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.40%. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 90.61%.

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.