Czech National Bank Boosts Stake in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Czech National Bank raised its position in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 5.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 104,416 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,713 shares during the quarter. Czech National Bank’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $4,631,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in FirstEnergy by 41.4% in the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 187,964 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,259,000 after buying an additional 54,990 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC raised its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 5.3% in the 1st quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,335,364 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $51,572,000 after acquiring an additional 67,469 shares during the period. CCM Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of FirstEnergy during the 4th quarter valued at $9,867,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 1,317,521 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $50,422,000 after acquiring an additional 42,484 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in FirstEnergy by 214.5% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 73,567 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,841,000 after purchasing an additional 50,176 shares during the period. 89.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

Shares of FE stock opened at $42.71 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.55, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.50. FirstEnergy Corp. has a one year low of $34.73 and a one year high of $44.97. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $43.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.51. 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 (NYSE:FE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 12.12% and a net margin of 6.61%. The business had revenue of $3.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.47 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given a $0.425 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.98%. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is currently 97.70%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on FE shares. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on FirstEnergy from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.80.

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.