Xponance Inc. Buys 2,021 Shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Xponance Inc. lifted its position in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 2.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 75,318 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,021 shares during the period. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $2,882,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares 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 worth $7,259,000 after purchasing an additional 54,990 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 5.3% in the first quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,335,364 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $51,572,000 after purchasing an additional 67,469 shares in the last quarter. First Pacific Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. First Pacific Advisors LP now owns 3,481,258 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $127,623,000 after buying an additional 45,350 shares in the last quarter. CCM Investment Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of FirstEnergy during the fourth quarter worth about $9,867,000. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in FirstEnergy by 3.3% in 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. Institutional investors own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FE has been the topic of several analyst reports. Argus raised shares of FirstEnergy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Scotiabank raised their price target on FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. 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 report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $44.45.

FirstEnergy Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE:FE opened at $43.79 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $25.20 billion, a PE ratio of 25.17, a PEG ratio of 2.32 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 one year low of $32.18 and a one year high of $44.97. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $42.70 and a 200-day moving average of $40.10.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.61% and a return on equity of 12.12%. 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 prior year, the firm posted $0.47 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.425 per share. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.88%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is currently 97.70%.

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.