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

R Squared Ltd raised its position in FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE) by 185.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 19,242 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,503 shares during the quarter. R Squared Ltd’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $834,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 9,971,706 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $508,158,000 after purchasing an additional 694,449 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in FirstEnergy by 11.9% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 5,396,317 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $273,377,000 after buying an additional 573,731 shares during the period. Electron Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in FirstEnergy by 103.2% in the first quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,991,914 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $151,570,000 after buying an additional 1,519,737 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in FirstEnergy by 2.2% in the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,719,645 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $129,292,000 after buying an additional 59,097 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in FirstEnergy by 1.4% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,627,745 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $133,116,000 after buying an additional 35,259 shares in the last quarter. 89.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FE has been the subject of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of FirstEnergy in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Mizuho set a $47.00 price objective on shares of FirstEnergy in a research report on Monday, October 12th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of FirstEnergy from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Monday, November 2nd. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $54.00 to $49.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 12th. Finally, New Street Research set a $47.00 target price on shares of FirstEnergy in a report on Tuesday, October 13th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.77.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

NYSE:FE opened at $46.47 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $45.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $47.50. 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 $26.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.34, a PEG ratio of 2.73 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 announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.24 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.83 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter 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 Dividend Announcement

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

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.