Ascent Group LLC Increases Holdings in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Ascent Group LLC boosted its position in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 38,865 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 603 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $1,724,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of FE. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in FirstEnergy by 1,417.3% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 743,303 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,965,000 after acquiring an additional 694,313 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 9,098,472 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $403,517,000 after purchasing an additional 457,231 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of FirstEnergy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $14,933,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in FirstEnergy by 1,178.5% in the 2nd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 286,824 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,977,000 after buying an additional 264,389 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in FirstEnergy by 4,445.0% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 219,434 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,732,000 after buying an additional 214,606 shares during the last quarter. 89.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on FE. Seaport Res Ptn cut FirstEnergy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Argus raised shares of FirstEnergy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of FirstEnergy in a research note on Monday, October 14th. They set a “hold” rating and a $46.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, FirstEnergy currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.91.

FirstEnergy Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of FE opened at $41.59 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $23.97 billion, a PE ratio of 26.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58. The company’s fifty day moving average is $42.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.54. FirstEnergy Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $35.41 and a fifty-two week high of $44.97.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $3.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.96 billion. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.64% and a return on equity of 11.38%. FirstEnergy’s revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.88 EPS. Analysts forecast that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.67 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th were issued a $0.425 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.09%. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is 109.68%.

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.