HighTower Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 146,982 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,215 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $6,530,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in FirstEnergy by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,382 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $436,000 after buying an additional 440 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank grew its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 8.6% in the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 98,703 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,777,000 after purchasing an additional 7,836 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital purchased a new position in shares of FirstEnergy in the 2nd quarter worth $211,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 6.4% in the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 78,297 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,996,000 after buying an additional 4,730 shares in the last quarter. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 21.1% in the 2nd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 9,190 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $352,000 after buying an additional 1,604 shares in the last quarter. 89.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on FE shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Seaport Res Ptn cut FirstEnergy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on FirstEnergy in a report on Monday, October 14th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $46.00 target price for the company. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of FirstEnergy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, September 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.82.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

FirstEnergy stock opened at $40.82 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.46. The stock has a market cap of $23.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.51. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $42.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.59. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 1 year low of $35.41 and a 1 year high of $44.97.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last announced 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). FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.64% and a return on equity of 11.38%. The firm had revenue of $3.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.88 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.68 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th were paid a $0.425 dividend. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.16%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 7th. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.