FirstEnergy Corporation $FE Stock: Machina Capital S.A.S. Increases Position

Machina Capital S.A.S. lifted its position in shares of FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE) by 79.1% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 37,616 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,617 shares during the period. Machina Capital S.A.S.’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $1,630,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its position in FirstEnergy by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 291,324 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $12,623,000 after purchasing an additional 16,867 shares in the last quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 191.3% in the third quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC now owns 12,477 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $541,000 after buying an additional 8,194 shares during the period. Ethic Inc. raised its stake in FirstEnergy by 107.3% in the 3rd quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 48,621 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,107,000 after acquiring an additional 25,163 shares during the period. Axiom Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 530.2% during the 3rd quarter. Axiom Investment Management LLC now owns 3,258 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $141,000 after buying an additional 2,741 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its holdings in FirstEnergy by 15.9% in the 3rd quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 242,975 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,528,000 after buying an additional 33,265 shares during the period. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

FirstEnergy stock opened at $46.47 on Friday. FirstEnergy Corporation has a 1-year low of $42.67 and a 1-year high of $52.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.90 billion, a PE ratio of 17.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.39. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $45.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.50.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $4.56 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.24 billion. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 7.40% and a return on equity of 11.07%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.83 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that FirstEnergy Corporation will post 2.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.4650 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 6th. This represents a $1.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 89.42%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on FE shares. Mizuho set a $47.00 target price on shares of FirstEnergy in a report on Monday, October 12th. New Street Research set a $47.00 target price on FirstEnergy in a research report on Tuesday, October 13th. Weiss Ratings raised FirstEnergy from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Monday, November 2nd. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on FirstEnergy in a research report on Monday, October 26th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $50.00 price target for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 19th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.77.

About FirstEnergy

FirstEnergy Corp. is an investor-owned electric utility holding company focused primarily on regulated electricity transmission and distribution. Through its utility subsidiaries, it delivers electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers across parts of Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West Virginia and Maryland. The company’s operations include maintaining local electric distribution networks and owning and operating high-voltage transmission infrastructure across portions of the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic.