CenterBook Partners LP Acquires 18,260 Shares of FirstEnergy Corporation $FE

CenterBook Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE) in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 18,260 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $791,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Simplicity Wealth LLC increased its stake in FirstEnergy by 3.4% during the first quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 6,839 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $346,000 after acquiring an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. GRIMES & Co WEALTH MANAGEMENT LLC lifted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. GRIMES & Co WEALTH MANAGEMENT LLC now owns 6,338 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $275,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC now owns 25,572 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,216,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares during the period. CX Institutional grew its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 7,776 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $370,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares during the period. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 16.7% during the 3rd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,939 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $84,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares during the period. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Mizuho set a $47.00 price target on shares of FirstEnergy in a report on Monday, October 12th. HSBC initiated coverage on shares of FirstEnergy in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of FirstEnergy from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Monday, November 2nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 19th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, FirstEnergy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $50.77.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

NYSE:FE opened at $46.45 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $45.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $47.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The stock has a market cap of $26.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.08, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.39. FirstEnergy Corporation has a 1-year low of $42.67 and a 1-year high of $52.34.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $4.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.83 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that FirstEnergy Corporation will post 2.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

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

FirstEnergy 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.