CWA Asset Management Group LLC Takes $253,000 Position in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

CWA Asset Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 5,712 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $253,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Balanced Wealth Group LLC increased its position in FirstEnergy by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Balanced Wealth Group LLC now owns 26,741 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,186,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Sachetta LLC grew its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 36.0% during the second quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 929 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC raised its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 4.4% in the second quarter. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC now owns 5,869 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $226,000 after buying an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 6.2% during the first quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 4,995 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $193,000 after buying an additional 290 shares during the period. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its position in FirstEnergy by 0.7% during the second quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 44,441 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,701,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Argus upgraded FirstEnergy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, September 20th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered FirstEnergy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.00.

FirstEnergy Stock Down 0.7 %

FirstEnergy stock traded down $0.31 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $41.42. 498,829 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,942,092. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $43.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.14. The firm has a market cap of $23.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.51. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 1 year low of $34.92 and a 1 year high of $44.97.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 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 business had revenue of $3.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.96 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.88 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th will be issued a $0.425 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.10%. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 109.68%.

FirstEnergy Company 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.