Machina Capital S.A.S. Acquires 16,617 Shares of FirstEnergy Corporation $FE

Machina Capital S.A.S. lifted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE) by 79.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 37,616 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,617 shares during the period. Machina Capital S.A.S.’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $1,630,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased 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 acquiring an additional 16,867 shares in the last quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC boosted its stake in FirstEnergy by 191.3% during the third quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC now owns 12,477 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $541,000 after acquiring an additional 8,194 shares in the last quarter. Ethic Inc. boosted its stake in FirstEnergy by 107.3% during the third quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 48,621 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,107,000 after acquiring an additional 25,163 shares in the last quarter. Axiom Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in FirstEnergy by 530.2% during the third quarter. Axiom Investment Management LLC now owns 3,258 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $141,000 after acquiring an additional 2,741 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its stake in FirstEnergy by 15.9% during the third quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 242,975 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,528,000 after acquiring an additional 33,265 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

Shares of FE opened at $46.47 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.38. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $45.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $47.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.39. FirstEnergy Corporation has a 52 week low of $42.67 and a 52 week high of $52.34.

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

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 6th will be given a $0.4650 dividend. This represents a $1.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 6th. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 89.42%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating on shares of FirstEnergy in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Weiss Ratings raised shares of FirstEnergy from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Monday, November 2nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded FirstEnergy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 19th. Finally, HSBC initiated coverage on FirstEnergy in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 target price for the company. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.77.

FirstEnergy Company Profile

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.