International Assets Investment Management LLC Purchases 214,606 Shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 4,445.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 219,434 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 214,606 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $9,732,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of FE. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC acquired a new position in shares of FirstEnergy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $231,000. Aquila Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in FirstEnergy during the 3rd quarter worth $355,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in FirstEnergy by 110.5% during the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 31,863 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,413,000 after buying an additional 16,729 shares in the last quarter. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy during the 3rd quarter valued at $423,000. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:FE opened at $42.20 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $43.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.43. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 1 year low of $34.92 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 the consensus estimate of $0.91 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $3.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.96 billion. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 12.12% and a net margin of 6.61%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.88 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The business 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 dividend of $0.425 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.03%. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 120.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on FirstEnergy in a report on Monday, October 14th. They set a “hold” rating and a $46.00 target price for the company. Argus upgraded shares of FirstEnergy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. One 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, FirstEnergy has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.00.

FirstEnergy 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.