Cerity Partners LLC Grows Stock Holdings in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 7.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 275,682 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 18,847 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $12,227,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of FE. Balanced Wealth Group LLC increased its holdings in FirstEnergy by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Balanced Wealth Group LLC now owns 26,741 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,186,000 after acquiring an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Sachetta LLC increased its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 36.0% during the 2nd quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 929 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC raised its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 4.4% during the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC now owns 5,869 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $226,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its stake in FirstEnergy by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 16,916 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $750,000 after buying an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its holdings in FirstEnergy by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 44,441 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,701,000 after buying an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

FirstEnergy Trading Up 0.5 %

FE stock opened at $42.28 on Wednesday. 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 has a market cap of $24.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.28, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.51. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.48. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 52 week low of $35.41 and a 52 week high of $44.97.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $3.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.96 billion. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 11.38% and a net margin of 6.64%. The business’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.88 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.68 EPS for the current year.

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.425 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.02%. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 109.68%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded FirstEnergy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.91.

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.