R Squared Ltd Buys 12,503 Shares of FirstEnergy Corporation $FE

R Squared Ltd boosted its stake in FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE) by 185.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 19,242 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,503 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $834,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Terril Brothers Inc. acquired a new position in FirstEnergy during the 3rd quarter worth $406,000. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System increased its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 33,187 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,438,000 after purchasing an additional 2,799 shares during the last quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Machina Capital S.A.S. raised its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 79.1% in the 3rd quarter. Machina Capital S.A.S. now owns 37,616 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,630,000 after purchasing an additional 16,617 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 291,324 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,623,000 after purchasing an additional 16,867 shares in the last quarter. 89.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

FirstEnergy Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of FirstEnergy stock opened at $46.47 on Friday. 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 business’s 50 day simple moving average is $45.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $47.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.34, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.39. FirstEnergy Corporation has a twelve month low of $42.67 and a twelve month high of $52.34.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.08. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 11.07% and a net margin of 7.40%. The business had revenue of $4.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.83 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that FirstEnergy Corporation will post 2.74 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 6th will be given a $0.4650 dividend. 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 Analyst Weigh In

FE has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings raised shares of FirstEnergy from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Monday, November 2nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on FirstEnergy from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 21st. New Street Research set a $47.00 price objective on FirstEnergy in a report on Tuesday, October 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 19th. Finally, Mizuho set a $47.00 price objective on FirstEnergy in a research note on Monday, October 12th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, FirstEnergy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.