FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Shares Acquired by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 1,417.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 743,303 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 694,313 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.13% of FirstEnergy worth $32,965,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in FirstEnergy by 1,150.9% during the 1st quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 663 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 610 shares during the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lifted its stake in FirstEnergy by 1,138.9% during the second quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 669 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 615 shares during the last quarter. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new position in FirstEnergy in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in FirstEnergy in the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Western Pacific Wealth Management LP acquired a new stake in FirstEnergy during the first quarter worth approximately $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of FirstEnergy in a research report on Monday, October 14th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $46.00 target price on the stock. KeyCorp boosted their target price on FirstEnergy from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Barclays upped their target price on FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.00.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

Shares of FE opened at $44.09 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.51. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 1 year low of $34.91 and a 1 year high of $44.97. The company’s fifty day moving average is $43.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $40.86.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56. The business had revenue of $3.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.47 billion. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.61% and a return on equity of 12.12%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.47 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.7 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be issued a $0.425 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.86%. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 120.57%.

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.