R Squared Ltd Makes New $1.14 Million Investment in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 28,694 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,141,000. FirstEnergy makes up approximately 1.1% of R Squared Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in FirstEnergy by 5.3% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 9,098,472 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $403,517,000 after acquiring an additional 457,231 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,546,001 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $153,081,000 after purchasing an additional 34,151 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,346,263 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $104,057,000 after purchasing an additional 171,955 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank lifted its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,622,544 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $71,960,000 after purchasing an additional 5,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service grew its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 2.1% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 854,697 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,906,000 after purchasing an additional 17,462 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on FE. KeyCorp decreased their price target on FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Seaport Res Ptn cut FirstEnergy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of FirstEnergy in a research report on Monday, October 14th. They set a “hold” rating and a $46.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, FirstEnergy currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.27.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

NYSE FE opened at $40.20 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $40.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.83. 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 firm has a market cap of $23.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.52. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 52-week low of $35.41 and a 52-week high of $44.97.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last released its 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 company had revenue of $3.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.88 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.67 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a $0.425 dividend. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 109.68%.

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.