Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Acquires 14,552 Shares of FirstEnergy Corporation $FE

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its stake in FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE) by 11.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 137,260 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,552 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $6,289,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Eagle Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of FirstEnergy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $218,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its holdings in FirstEnergy by 5.7% in the third quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 7,998 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $366,000 after purchasing an additional 434 shares during the last quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. grew its holdings in FirstEnergy by 4.7% during the third quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 56,077 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,569,000 after acquiring an additional 2,492 shares during the period. American National Bank & Trust lifted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 380.2% in the 3rd quarter. American National Bank & Trust now owns 581 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 460 shares during the period. Finally, TruNorth Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 187.5% during the 3rd quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 621 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 405 shares in the last quarter. 89.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on FE. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded FirstEnergy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. KeyCorp downgraded shares of FirstEnergy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, FirstEnergy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $48.75.

FirstEnergy Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of FirstEnergy stock opened at $46.13 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.75. The company has a market cap of $26.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.14, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.64. FirstEnergy Corporation has a one year low of $37.58 and a one year high of $48.20. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $45.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $44.31.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.07. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 11.15% and a net margin of 9.19%.The company had revenue of $4.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.94 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.85 earnings per share. FirstEnergy’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that FirstEnergy Corporation will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.445 per share. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 6th. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.73%.

FirstEnergy Profile

FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE) is a U.S.-based electric utility holding company headquartered in Akron, Ohio. The company’s primary business is the delivery of electricity through its regulated transmission and distribution utilities, serving residential, commercial and industrial customers across parts of the Midwest and Mid‑Atlantic. FirstEnergy’s service territory includes states such as Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland and West Virginia, and it operates primarily within the PJM regional transmission organization.

FirstEnergy’s core activities center on owning and operating electric distribution networks and transmission systems, maintaining and upgrading grid infrastructure, managing storm response and restoration, and offering customer programs that include energy efficiency and reliability services.